Download The Psalms: Translated and Explained

THE PSALMS
TRANSLATED
AND
EXPLAINED
JOSEPH ADDISON ALEXANDER, D.D.
1864 Edinburgh; Andrew Elliot and James Thin.
Digitized by Ted Hildebrandt and Erin Bensing.
Gordon College, 2007
PREFACE
THE present publication owes its origin to Hengstenberg's Commentary on
the Psalms. The original design was to make that work, by abridgment
and other unessential changes, more acceptable and useful to the English
reader than it could be in the form of an exact translation. It was soon
found, however, that by far the most important part of such a book would
be a literal version of the Hebrew text, and that this was precisely what
could not be obtained at second hand, by the awkward and unsatisfying
process of translating a translation, but must be derived directly from an
independent scrutiny of the original. In attempting this, the deviations
from Hengstenberg, continually in form and not unfrequently in substance,
rendered it wholly inexpedient and improper to make him responsible for
what was really a new translation. The only course remaining therefore
was to make this general acknowledgment, that his work is the basis of the
one now offered to the public, and that more has been directly drawn from
that source than from all others put together. The present writer has so
freely availed himself of Hengstenberg's translations, exegetical suggestions,
and illustrative citations, in preparing his own version and explanatory
comments, that nothing could have led him to forego the advantage of inserting that distinguised name upon his title-page, except a natural unwillingness to make it answerable for the good or evil which is really his own.
At the same time, he considers it by no means the least merit of the book,
that it presents, in a smaller compass and a more familiar dress, the most
valuable results of so masterly an exposition.
In justice to his work and to himself, the author wishes it to be distinctly
understood, that he has aimed exclusively at explanation, the discovery and
statement of the meaning. To this he has confined himself for several
reasons: first, because a wider plan would have required a larger book than
was consistent with his general purpose; then, because this is really the
point in which assistance is most needed by the readers of the Psalter; and
lastly, because he had especially in view the wants of ministers, who are
better able than himself to erect a doctrinal, devotional, or practical superstructure on the exegetical basis which he has endeavoured here to furnish.
It follows of course, that the book is not designed to supersede the admirable
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PREFACE.
works in common use, except so far as it may be found to correct their
occasional errors of translation or verbal exposition.
It may be thought that, in order to accomplish this design, the author
might have satisfied himself with a bare translation. But experience has
more and more convinced him, that the meaning of an author cannot be
fully given in another language by the use of exact equivalents, which are
in fact so few, that the deficiency can only be supplied by the addition of
synonymous expressions or by explanatory paraphrase, or by exegetical
remark directly added to the text, or by the use of all these means together.
The idea which he has endeavoured here to realize is that of an amplified
translation. In the version properly so called, he has endeavoured to preserve, not only the strength but the peculiar form of the original, which is
often lost in the English Bible, by substituting literal for figurative and
general for specific terms, as well as by a needless deviation from the order
of the words in Hebrew, upon which the emphasis, if not the sense, is frequently dependent, and which has here been carefully restored wherever the
difference of idiom would suffer it, and sometimes, it may possibly be thought,
without regard to it. Another gratuitous departure from the form of the
original, which has been perhaps too scrupulously shunned, but not, it is
believed, without advantage to the general character of the translation,
arises from the habit of confounding the tenses, or merging the future and
the past in a jejune and inexpressive present. The instances where this
rule has been pushed to a rigorous extreme may be readily detected, but
will not perhaps be thought to outweigh the advantage of preserving one
of the most marked and striking features of the Hebrew language.
The plan of the book, as already defined, has excluded not only all devotional and practical remark, but all attempt to give the history of the
interpretation, or to enumerate the advocates and authors of conflicting
expositions. This, although necessary to a complete exegetical work, would
rather have defeated the design of this one, both by adding to its bulk and
by repelling a large class of readers. It has therefore been thought better to
exclude it, or rather to reserve it for a kindred work upon a large scale, if
such should hereafter be demanded by the public. The same course has been
taken with respect to a great mass of materials, relating to those topics
which would naturally find their place in a Critical Introduction. Many of
these, and such as are particularly necessary to the exposition, have been
noticed incidentally as they occur. But synoptical summaries of these, and
full discussions of the various questions, as to the age and authors of the
several psalms, the origin and principle of their arrangement, the best mode
of classification, and the principles on which they ought to be interpreted,
would fill a volume by themselves, without materially promoting the main
object of the present publication. As the topics thus necessarily excluded
will probably constitute a principal subject of the author’s private and professional studies for some time to come, he is not without the hope of being
able to bring something of this kind before the public, either in a separate
work upon the Psalms, or in a general Introduction to the Scriptures.
PREFACE.
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The difficulty of discussing these preliminary matters within reasonable
compass, although great in the case of any important part of Scripture, is
aggravated by the peculiar structure of the Psalter, the most miscellaneous
of the sacred books, containing a hundred and fifty compositions, each complete in itself, and varying in length, from two sentences (Ps. cxvii.) to a
hundred and seventy-six (Ps. cxix.), as well as in subject, style, and tone,
the work of many authors, and of different ages; so that a superficial reader
might be tempted to regard it as a random or fortuitous collection of unconnected and incongruous materials.
A closer inspection shews, however, that this heterogeneous mass is not
without a bond of union; that these hundred and fifty independent pieces,
different as they are, have this in common, that they are all poetical, not
merely imaginative and expressive of feeling, but stamped externally with
that peculiar character of parallelism, which distinguishes the higher style
of Hebrew composition from ordinary prose. A still more marked resemblance is that they are all not only poetical but lyrical, i. e. songs, poems
intended to be sung, and with a musical accompaniment. Thirdly, they are
all religious lyrics, even those which seem at first sight the most secular in
theme and spirit, but which are all found on inquiry to be strongly expressive of religious feeling. In the fourth place, they are all ecclesiastical lyrics,
psalms or hymns, intended to be permanently used in public worship, not
excepting those which bear the clearest impress of original connection with
the social, domestic, or personal relations and experience of the writers.
The book being thus invested with a certain unity of spirit, form, and
purpose, we are naturally led to seek for something in the psalms themselves, which may determine more definitely their relation to each other.
The first thing of this kind that presents itself is the existence, in a very
large proportion, of an ancient title or inscription, varying in length and fulness; sometimes simply describing the composition, as a psalm, a song, a
prayer, &c.; sometimes stating the subject or historical occasion, either in
plain or enigmatical expressions; sometimes directing the performance, by
indicating the accompanying instrument, by specifying the appropriate key
or mode, or by naming the particular performer: these various intimations
occurring sometimes singly, but frequently in combination.
The strenuous attempts which have been made by modern writers to
discredit these inscriptions, as spurious additions of a later date, containing
groundless and erroneous conjectures, often at variance with the terms and
substance of the psalm itself, are defeated by the fact that they are found
in the Hebrew text, as far as we can trace its history, not as addenda, but
as integral parts of the composition; that such indications of the author
and the subject, at the commencement of a composition, are familiar both
to classical and oriental usage; and that the truth of these inscriptions may
in every case be vindicated, and in none more successfully than those which
seem at first sight least defensible, and which have therefore been appealed
to, with most confidence, as proofs of spuriousness and recent date.
The details included in this general statement will be pointed out as they
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PREFACE.
occur, but are here referred to by anticipation, to explain and vindicate the
constant treatment of the titles in this volume as an integral part of the
sacred text, which in some editions of the Bible has been mutilated by
omitting them, and in others dislocated or confused, for the purposes of reference, by passing them over in the numeration of the verses. As this last
arrangement is familiar to all readers of the English Bible, an attempt has been
made in the following exposition to consult their convenience, by adding the numbers of the English to those of the Hebrew text, wherever they
are different.
Another point of contact and resemblance between these apparently detached and independent compositions is the frequent recurrence of set
phrases and of certain forms extending to the structure of whole psalms,
such as the alphabetical arrangement, in which the successive sentences or
paragraphs begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This is the more
remarkable, because these alphabetic psalms have all a common
character, distinguishing them from the rest, to wit, that instead of a progression of ideas, they consist of variations on a theme propounded at the outset,
whether this be regarded as the cause or the effect of the peculiar
form itself.
The same inquiries which have led to these conclusions also shew that the
arrangement of the psalms in the collection is by no means so unmeaning and fortuitous as may at first sight seem to be the case, but that in
many instances at least, a reason may be found for the juxtaposition, in
resemblance or identity of subject or historical occasion, or in some
remarkable coincidence of general form or of particular expressions. If
in some cases it is difficult to trace the reason of the collocation, there are
others in which two psalms bear so intimate and obvious a mutual relation,
that they seem to constitute a pair or double psalm, either because they
were originally meant to match each other, or because one has been subsequently added for the purpose. Sometimes, particularly in the latter
part of the collection, we may trace not only pairs but trilogies, and even
more extensive systems of connected psalms, each independent of the rest,
and yet together forming beautiful and striking combinations, particularly
when the nucleus or the basis of the series is an ancient psalm; for instance
one of David’s, to which others have been added, in the way of variation or of
imitation, at a later period, such as that of the Captivity.
Although the facts just mentioned are sufficient to evince that the Book
of Psalms was not thrown together at random, but adjusted by a careful
hand, the principle of the arrangement is not always so apparent, or of
such a nature as to repress the wish to classify the psalms and reduce them
to some systematic order. The most obvious arrangement would be that
by authors, if the data were sufficient. But although the title ascribe one
to Moses, seventy-two to David, two to Solomon, twelve to Asaph, one to
Ethan, and eleven to the Sons of Korah, it is doubtful in some of the
cases, more particularly those last mentioned, whether the title was designed
to indicate the author or the musical performer, and more than fifty are
PREFACE.
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anonymous. In some of these the hand of David may be still distinctly
traced, but as to most, we are abandoned to conjecture, which of course
affords no solid basis for a satisfactory or useful distribution.
Another principle of classification is the internal character, the subject,
style, and manner of the psalms. This was applied by the older writers,
in accordance with the forms of artificial rhetoric, and with endless variety
in the result. But the best application of the principle is that proposed by
Hengstenberg, and founded on the tone of pious feeling which the psalm
expresses: whether joyous, as in the general psalms of praise, and more
especially in those of thanksgiving; or sad, as in the querulous and penitential psalms; or calm, as in most of the prophetic and didactic psalms.
All these, however, are arrangements which the reader can make best to
please himself, and which are rather the results of exposition than preliminary aids to it.
Apart from these attempts at systematic distribution and arrangement,
there is also a question with respect to the division of the Psalter as it
stands. There is an ancient division into five parts, corresponding, as the
Rabbins say, to the five books of Moses, and indicated by doxologies at the
close of Ps. xli., lxxii., lxxxix., cvi., while Ps. cl. is itself a doxology,
winding up the whole. The modern critics, more especially in Germany,
have tasked their ingenuity to prove that these are distinct collections,
contemporaneous or successive, of detached compositions, afterwards combined to form the present Psalter. But they never have been able to
account, with any plausibility or show of truth, for the remarkable position
which the psalms of David occupy in all parts of the book. A much more
probable hypothesis, though coupled with a theory, to say the least,
extremely dubious, is that of Hengstenberg, who looks upon the actual
arrangement as the work of Ezra, or some other skilful and authoritative
hand, and accounts for the division into five books as follows. The first
book (Ps. i.–xli.) contains only psalms of David, in which the use of the
divine name Jehovah is predominant. The second (Ps. xlii.-lxxii.) contains
psalms of David and his contemporaries, i. e., Solomon, Asaph, and the
Sons of Korah, in which the predominant divine name is Elohim. The third
(Ps. lxxiii.–lxxxix.) contains psalms of Asaph and the Sons of Korah, in
which the name Jehovah is predominant. The fourth (Ps. xc.–cvi.) and
fifth (cvii.–cl.,) contain, for the most part, psalms of later date, the principal exceptions being one by Moses (Ps. xc.), and several of David's, to
which others in the same strain have been added, in the way already
mentioned.
However ingenious this hypothesis may be, it will be seen at once that
it contributes very little to the just appreciation or correct interpretation of
the several psalms, except by enabling us, in certain cases, to derive illustration from a more extended context, as the reader will find stated in its
proper place. Even granting, therefore, the historical assumption upon
which it rests, and the favourite doctrine as to the divine names, with
which it is to some extent identified, it will be sufficient for our present
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PREFACE.
purpose to have stated it in outline, leaving the reader to compare it with
the facts as they successively present themselves, and reserving a more full
investigation of the general question to another time and place.
The best arrangement for the ordinary student of the Psalter is the
actual arrangement of the book itself: first, because we have no better,
and the efforts to invent a better have proved fruitless; then, because, as
we have seen, there are sufficient indications, of a principle or purpose in
this actual arrangement, whether we can always trace it there or not;
lastly, because uniform tradition and analogy agree in representing it as
highly probable that this arrangement was the work of Ezra, the inspired
collector and rédacteur of the canon, so that even if nothing more should
ever be discovered, with respect to his particular design or plan, we have
still the satisfaction of relying, not on chance, but on a competent or rather
an infallible authority, as well as the advantage of studying the psalms in
a connection and an order which may possibly throw light upon them, even
when it seems to us most fortuitous or arbitrary.
If any subdivision of the book is needed, as a basis or a means of more
convenient exposition, it may be obtained by taking, as the central column
of this splendid fabric, its most ancient portion, the sublime and affecting
Prayer of Moses, known from time immemorial as the Ninetieth Psalm,
and suffering this, as a dividing line, to separate the whole into two great
parts, the first composed entirely of psalms belonging to the times of
David, the other of a few such, with a much greater number of later compositions, founded on them and connected with them.
This simple distribution seems to secure all the substantial advantages
of Hengstenberg's hypothesis, without its complexity or doubtful points.
Among the latter may be reckoned the extraordinary stress laid by this
eminent interpreter on what may be called Symbolical Arithmetic, or the
significance ascribed to the number of verses, of Selahs, of Jehovahs, of
Elohims, used in any given psalm. Setting out from the unquestionable
fact, that certain numbers are symbolically used in the Old Testament;
that seven is the symbol of the covenant, twelve of the theocracy, ten of
completeness or perfection, five of the reverse, &c., he attempts to trace
the application of this principle throughout the psalms, and not, as might
have been expected, without many palpable failures to establish his favourite and foregone conclusion. The effect which this singular prepossession
might have had upon his exposition is prevented by his happily restricting
it entirely to form and structure, and putting it precisely on a level with
the alphabetical arrangement of the Hebrews, and with rhyme as used by
other nations. There is still, however, reason to regret the space allotted
to this subject in his volumes, and good ground for excluding it from works
of an humbler and more popular description. As all the views of such a
mind, however, are at least entitled to consideration, this subject may
appropriately take its place among the topics of a Critical Introduction.
With respect to the historical relations of the Psalter and its bearings
on the other parts of Scripture, it will be sufficient to remind the reader,
PREFACE.
7
that the Mosaic system reached its culminating point and full development
in the reign of David, when the land of promise was in full possession, the
provisions of the law for the first time fully carried out, and a permanent
sanctuary secured, and, we may even say, prospectively erected. The chain
of Messianic promises, which for ages had been broken, or concealed
beneath the prophetic ritual, was now renewed by the addition of a new
link, in the great Messianic promise made to David (2 Sam. vii.) of perpetual succession in his family. As the head of this royal race from which
the Messiah was to spring, and as the great theocratical model of succeeding ages, who is mentioned more frequently in prophecy and gospel than
all his natural descendants put together, he was inspired to originate a new
kind of sacred composition, that of Psalmody, or rather to educe from the
germ which Moses had planted an abundant harvest of religious poetry,
not for his own private use, but for that of the Church, in the new form of
public service which he added by divine command to the Mosaic ritual.
As an inspired psalmist, as the founder and director of the temple-music.
and as a model and exemplar to those after him, David's position is unique
in sacred history. As his military prowess had been necessary to complete
the conquest of the land, so his poetical and musical genius was necessary
to secure his influence upon the church for ever. The result is, that no
part of the Bible has been so long, so constantly, and so extensively familiar, both to Jews and Christians, as the PSALMS OF DAVID. This denominatio a potiori is entirely correct, as all the other writers of the psalms,
excepting Moses, merely carry out and vary what had been already done
by David; and as if to guard the system from deterioration, the further we
proceed the more direct and obvious is this dependence upon David, as
"the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the
sweet psalmist of Israel" (2 Sam. xxiii. 1), the master and the model of all
other psalmists, from the days of Solomon to those of Ezra.
The interesting questions which have so often been discussed, as to the
theology and ethics of the Psalter, and especially in reference to the doctrine of a Messiah and a future state, and to the so-called imprecations of
the psalms, can be satisfactorily settled only by detailed interpretation of
the passages concerned, and any summary anticipation of the general
result may here be spared, although it would be highly appropriate in a
Critical Introduction.
After this brief statement of preliminary points which might be fully
treated in an Introduction, it only remains to add, in explanation of the
plan adopted in the work itself, that the reader is constantly supposed to
be familiar with the Hebrew text and with the authorised version, but that,
in order to make the exposition accessible to a larger class of educated
readers, the original words have been introduced but sparingly, and only
for the purpose of saving space and avoiding an awkward circumlocution.
The translation of the text is printed in italic type as prose, partly for a
reason just assigned, to save room; partly because it is really prose, and
not verse, according to the common acceptation of those terms; partly be-
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PREFACE.
cause the effect of the poetical element, so far as it exists, is weakened
rather than enhanced when printed as irregular blank verse: but especially
because the version is not meant to stand by itself, or to be continuously
read, but to be part and parcel of the exposition, and to be qualified by the
accompanying paraphrase and comments.
The religious uses of the Psalms, both doctrinal and practical, though
not directly aimed at in these volumes, are so far from being undervalued
by the author, and indeed so essential to his ultimate design, that any effect
which the book may have, however humble or remote, in the promotion of
this end, will be esteemed by him as its most flattering success, and the
most acceptable reward of his exertions.
Princeton, May 1. 1850.
THE PSALMS.
PSALM I.
THE book opens with an exquisite picture of the truly Happy Man, as seen
from the highest ground of the old dispensation. He is described both
literally and figuratively, positively and negatively, directly and by contrast,
with respect both to his character and his condition, here and hereafter.
The compression of all this into so short a composition, without confusion
or obscurity, and with a high degree of graphic vividness, shews what the
psalm is in a rhetorical or literary point of view, apart from its religious
import and divine authority. Its moral design is both didactic and consolatory. There is no trace of any particular historical occasion or allusion.
The teams employed are general, and admit of an easy application to all
times and places where the word of God is known. The psalm indeed contains a summary of the doctrine taught in this book and in the Scriptures
generally, as to the connection between happiness and goodness. It is well
placed, therefore, as an introduction to the whole collection, and although
anonymous, was probably composed by David. It is altogether worthy of
this origin, and corresponds, in form and substance, to the next psalm,
which is certainly by David. The two seem indeed to form a pair or double
psalm, of which arrangement there are several other instances. The structure of the first psalm is symmetrical but simple, and the style removed
from that of elevated prose by nothing but the use of strong and lively
figures.
1. The Happy Man is first described in literal but negative expressions,
i. e. by stating what he does not habitually do. The description opens with
a kind of admiring exclamation. (Oh) the blessedness of the man! The
plural form of the original (felicities or happinesses), if anything more than
a grammatical idiom like ashes, means, &c., in our language, may denote
fulness and variety of happiness, as if he had said, How completely happy is
the man! The negative description follows. Happy the man who has not
walked, a common figure for the course of life or the habitual conduct, which
is furthermore suggested by the use of the past tense, but without excluding
the present, who has not walked and does not walk, in the counsel, i. e. live
after the manner, on the principles, or according to the plans, of wicked
(men), and in, the way of sinners has not stood. The word translated sinners
properly denotes those who fall short of the standard of duty, as the word
translated wicked denotes those who positively violate a rule by disorderly
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PSALM I.
[VER. 2, 3.
conduct. Together they express the whole idea of ungodly or unrighteous
men. And in the seat, not the chair, but the company, or the place where
men convene and sit together, of scorners, scoffers, those who treat religion
with contempt, has not sat. The three verbs denote the three acts or postures of a waking man, namely, walking, standing, sitting, and are therefore well adapted to express the whole course of life or conduct. It is also
possible that a climax was intended, so that walking, standing, and sitting
in the company of sinners will denote successive stages of deterioration, first
occasional conformity, then fixed association, then established residence
among the wicked, not as a mere spectator or companion, but as one of
themselves. The same kind of negative description reappears in Psalm
xxvi. 4, 5, and in Jer. xv. 17. It is of course implied that no one, of whom
any of these things can be affirmed, is entitled to the character of a Happy Man.
2. A positive trait is now added to the picture. Having shewn what the
truly happy man does not, the Psalmist shews us what he does. But, on
the contrary, in contrast with the previous description, in the law of Jehovah,
i. e. the written revelation of his will, and more especially the Pentateuch
or Law of Moses, which lay at the foundation of the Hebrew Scriptures, (is)
his delight, not merely his employment, or his trust, but his pleasure, his
happiness. And in his law he will meditate, i. e. he does so and will do so
still, not merely as a theme of speculation or study, but as a cherished
object of affection, a favourite subject of the thoughts, day and night, i. e.
at all times, in every interval of other duties, nay in the midst of other
duties, this is the theme to which his mind spontaneously reverts. The
cordial attachment to an unfinished revelation, here implicitly enjoined,
chews clearly what is due to the completed word of God which we possess.
3. The literal description of the Happy Man, both in its negative and
positive form, is followed by a beautiful comparison, expressive of his character and his condition. And he is, or he shall be; the present and the future
insensibly run into each other, so as to suggest the idea of continuous or
permanent condition, like the past and present in the first verse. And
he is, or shall be, like a tree, a lively emblem of vitality and fruitfulness.
He is not, however, like a tree growing wild, but like a tree planted, in the
most favourable situation, on or over, i. e. overhanging, streams of water.
The original words properly denote canals or channels, as customary means
of artificial irrigation. Hence the single tree is said to overhang more than
one, because surrounded by them. The image presented is that of a highly
cultivated spot, and implies security and care, such as could not be enjoyed
in the most luxuriant wilderness or forest. The divine culture thus experienced is the cause of the effect represented by the rest of the comparison.
Which (tree) will give, or yield, its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not
wither; it shall lose neither its utility nor beauty. This is then expressed
in a more positive and prosaic form. And all, or every thing, which he,
the man represented by the verdant fruitful tree, shall do, he shall make to
prosper, or do prosperously, with good success. This pleasing image is in
perfect keeping with the scope of the psalm, which is not to describe the
righteous man, as such, but the truly happy man, with whom the righteous
man is afterwards identified. The neglect of this peculiar feature of the
composition impairs its moral as well as its rhetorical effect, by making it
an austere declaration of what will be expected from a good man, rather
than a joyous exhibition of his happy lot. That the common experience,
even of the best men, falls short of this description, is because their cha-
VER. 4-6.]
PSALM I.
11
racter and life fall short of that presented in the two preceding verses. The
whole description is not so much a picture drawn from real life, as an ideal
standard or model, by striving to attain which our aims and our attainments
will be elevated, though imperfect after all.
4. Not so the wicked. The direct description of the Happy Man is
heightened and completed by comparison with others. Not so the wicked,
i. e. neither in condition nor in character. The dependence of the one upon
the other is suggested by describing them as wicked, rather than unhappy.
Not so, i. e. not thus happy, (are) the wicked, because they are wicked, and
are therefore destitute of all that constitutes the happiness before described.
The immediate reference, in the phrase not so, is to the beautiful, wellwatered, green, and thriving tree of the preceding verse. To this delightful
emblem of a healthful happy state the Psalmist now opposes one drawn
likewise from the vegetable world, but as totally unlike the first as possible.
The wicked are not represented by a tree, not even by a barren tree, a dead
tree, a prostrate tree, a shrub, a weed, all which are figures not unfrequent in the Scriptures. But all these are more or less associated with the
natural condition of a living plant, and therefore insufficient to present the
necessary contrast. This is finely done by a comparison with chaff, which,
though a vegetable substance, and connected in its origin with one of the
most valuable products of the earth, is itself neither living, fruitful, nor
nutritious, but only fit to be removed and scattered by the wind, in the
ancient and oriental mode of winnowing. There is a double fitness in the
emblem here presented, as suggesting the idea of intrinsic worthlessness,
and at the same time that of contrast with the useful grain, with which it
came into existence, and from which it shall be separated only to be blown
away or burned. Not so the wicked, but like the chaff; which the wind drives
away. The same comparison is used in Psalm xxxv. 5, Isa. xvii. 13, xxix.
5, Hos. xiii. 3, Zeph. ii. 2, Job xxi. 18, and by John the Baptist in Mat.
iii. 12, with obvious allusion to this psalm, but with a new figure, that of
burning, which seems to be intended to denote final and complete destruction, while in all the other cases, the idea suggested by the chaff being
blown away is that of violent and rapid disappearance.
5. Therefore, because they are unlike a living tree, and like the worthless chaff, fit only to be scattered by the wind, wicked (men) shall not stand,
i. e. stand their ground or be able to sustain themselves, in the judgment,
i. e. at the bar of God. This includes two ideas, that of God's unerring
estimation of all creatures at their real value, and that of his corresponding
action towards them. The wicked shall neither be approved by God, nor,
as a necessary consequence, continue to enjoy his favour, even in appearance. Whatever providential inequalities may now exist will all be rectified
hereafter. The wicked shall not always be confounded with their betters.
They shall not stand in the judgment, either present intermediate judgments,
or the final judgment of the great day. And sinners, the same persons
under another name, as in ver. 1 (shall not stand) in the congregation, or
assembly, of righteous (men). They shall not continue intermingled with
them in society as now, and, what is more important, they shall not for ever
seem to form part of the church or chosen people, to which the word translated congregation is constantly applied in the Old Testament. Whatever
doubt may now exist, the time is coming when the wicked are to take their
proper place and to be seen in their true character, as totally unlike the righteous.
6. The certainty of this event is secured by God's omniscience, from
12
PSALM I.
[VER. 6.
which his power and his justice are inseparable. However men may be
deceived in their prognostications, he is not. The Lord, Jehovah, the God
of Revelation, the covenant God of Israel, knows, literally (is) knowing, i. e.
habitually knows, or knows from the beginning to the end, the way of righteous (men), i. e. the tendency and issue of their character and conduct.
As if he had said, the Lord knows whither they are going and where they
will arrive at last. This is a clear though indirect assertion of their safety, here
and hereafter. The figure of a way is often used to express the character
and conduct itself; but this idea is here implied or comprehended in that of
destiny, as determined by the character and conduct. There is no need, therefore, of taking the verb know in any other than its usual and proper sense.
The verse is an appeal to divine omniscience for the truth of the implied
assertion, that the righteous are safe and will be happy, as well as for that
of the express assertion, with which the whole psalm closes. The way of
wicked (men), in the same sense as before, shall perish, i. e. end in ruin.
The apparent solecism of making a way perish only brings out in more
prominent relief the truth really asserted, namely, the perdition of those
who travel it. This completes the contrast, and sums up the description
of the truly Happy Man, as one whose delight is in the law and his happiness in the favour of Jehovah, and whose strongest negative characteristic
is his total want of moral likeness here to those from whom he is to dwell
apart hereafter.
PSALM II.
A SUBLIME vision of the nations in revolt against Jehovah and his
Anointed, with a declaration of the divine purpose to maintain his King's
authority, and a warning to the world that it must bow to him or perish.
The structure of this psalm is extremely regular. It naturally falls into
four stanzas of three verses each. In the first, the conduct of the rebellious nations is described. In the second, God replies to them by word
and deed. In the third, the Messiah or Anointed One declares the divine
decree in relation to himself. In the fourth, the Psalmist exhorts the rulers
of the nations to submission, with a threatening of divine wrath to the disobedient, and a closing benediction on believers. The several sentences
it are also very regular in form, exhibiting parallelisms of great uniformity.
Little as this psalm may, at first sight, seem to resemble that before it,
there is really a very strong affinity between them. Even in form they are
related to each other. The number of verses and of stanzas is just double
in the second, which moreover begins, as the first ends, with a threatening,
and ends, as the first begins, with a beatitude. There is also a resemblance
in their subject and contents. The contrast indicated in the first is carried
out and rendered more distinct in the second. The first is in fact an introduction to the second, and the second to what follows. And as the psalms
which follow bear the name of David, there is the strongest reason to believe
that these two are his likewise, a conclusion confirmed by the authority of
Acts iv. 25, as well as by the internal character of the psalm itself. The
imagery of the scene presented is evidently borrowed from the warlike and
eventful times of David. He cannot, however, be himself the subject of
the composition, the terms of which are wholly inappropriate to any king
but the Messiah, to whom they are applied by the oldest Jewish writers,
and again and again in the New Testament. This is the first of those pro-
VER. 1, 2.]
PSALM II.
13
phetic psalms, in which the promise made to David, with respect to the
Messiah (2 Sam. vii. 16, 1 Chron. xvii. 11-14), is wrought into the lyrical
devotions of the ancient church. The supposition of a double reference to
David, or some one of his successors, and to Christ, is not only needless
and gratuitous, but hurtful to the sense by the confusion which it introduces,
and forbidden by the utter inappropriateness of some of the expressions
used to any lower subject. The style of this psalm, although not less pure
and simple, is livelier than that of the first, a difference arising partly from
the nature of the subject, but still more from the dramatic structure of the composition.
1. This psalm opens, like the first, with an exclamation, here expressive
of astonishment and indignation at the wickedness and folly of the scene
presented to the psalmist's view. Why do nations make a noise, tumultuate,
or rage? The Hebrew verb is not expressive of an internal feeling, but of
the outward agitation which denotes it. There may be an allusion to the
rolling and roaring of the sea, often used as an emblem of popular commotion, both in the Scriptures and the classics. The past tense of this verb
(why have they raged?) refers to the commotion as already begun, while the
future in the next clause expresses its continuance. And peoples, not people,
in the collective sense of persons, but in the proper plural sense of nations,
races, will imagine, i. e. are imagining and will continue to imagine, vanity,
a vain thing, something hopeless and impossible. The interrogation in
this verse implies that no rational solution of the strange sight could be
given, for reasons assigned in the remainder of the psalm. This implied
charge of irrationality is equally well founded in all cases where the same
kind of opposition exists, though secretly, and on the smallest scale.
2. The confused scene presented in the first verse now becomes more
distinct, by a nearer view of the contending parties. (Why will) the
kings of earth set themselves, or, without repeating the interrogation, the
kings of earth will set themselves, or take their stand, and rulers consult together, literally sit together, but with special reference to taking counsel,
as in Ps. xxxi. 14 (13), against Jehovah and against his Anointed, or Messiah,
which is only a modified form of the Hebrew word here used, as Christ is
a like modification of the corresponding term in Greek. External unction
or anointing is a sign, in the Old Testament, of the gifts of the Holy Spirit,
and especially of those conferred on prophets, priests, and kings, as ministers of the theocracy, and representatives of Christ himself. To kings
particularly, as the highest and most comprehensive order, and peculiar
types of Christ in his supremacy as Head of the church, the sacred history
applies the title of the Lord's Anointed. The rite of unction is explicitly
recorded in the case of Saul, David, and Solomon, and was probably repeated at the coronation of their successors. From the verse before us,
and from Dan. ix. 26, the name Messiah has, before the Advent, come into
use among the Jews as a common designation of the great Deliverer and
King whom they expected. (Compare John i. 41 with ver. 49 of the same
chapter, and with Mark xv. 32.) The intimate relation of the Anointed
One to God himself is indicated even here by making them the common
object of attack, or rather of revolt. In Acts iv. 25-27, this description
is applied to the combination of Herod and Pilate, Jews and Gentiles,
against Jesus Christ, not as the sole event predicted, but as that in which
the gradual fulfilment reached its culmination. From that quotation,
and indeed from the terms of the prophecy itself, we learn that nations
here does not mean Gentiles or heathen, as opposed to Jews, but whole com-
14
PSALM II.
[VER. 3, 4.
munities or masses of mankind, as distinguished from mere personal or
insulated cases of resistance and rebellion.
3. Having described the conduct of the disaffected nations and their
chiefs, he now introduces them as speaking. In the preceding verse they
were seen, as it were, at a distance, taking counsel. Here they are brought
so near to us, or we to them, that we can overhear their consultations.
Let us break their bands, i. e. the bands of the Lord and his Anointed, the
restraints imposed by their authority. The form of the Hebrew verb may
be expressive either of a proposition or of a fixed determination. We will
break their bands, we are resolved to do it. This is, in fact, involved in the
other version, where let us break must not be understood as a faint or
dubious suggestion, but as a summons to the execution of a formed and
settled purpose. The same idea is expressed, with a slight modification,
in the other clause. And we will cast, or let us cast away from us their cords,
twisted ropes, a stronger term than bands. The verb, too, while it really
implies the act of breaking, suggests the additional idea of contemptuous
facility, as if they had said, Let us fling away from us with scorn these
feeble bands by which we have been hitherto confined. The application
of this passage to the revolt of the Ammonites and other conquered nations
against David, or to any similar rebellion against any of the later Jewish
kings, as the principal subject of this grand description, makes it quite
ridiculous, if not profane, and cannot therefore be consistent with the
principles of sound interpretation. The utmost that can be conceded is
that David borrowed the scenery of this dramatic exhibition from the wars
and insurrections of his own eventful reign. The language of the rebels
in the verse before us is a genuine expression of the feelings entertained,
not only in the hearts of individual sinners, but by the masses of mankind,
so far as they have been brought into collision with the sovereignty of God
and Christ, not only at the time of his appearance upon earth, but in the ages
both before and after that event, in which the prophecy, as we have seen, attained its
height, but was not finally exhausted or fulfilled, since the same rash and hopeless
opposition to the Lord and his anointed still continues, and is likely to continue until
the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ
(Rev. xi. 15), an expression borrowed from this very passage.
4. As the first strophe or stanza of three verses is descriptive of the
conduct of the rebels, so the next describes the corresponding action of
their sovereign, in precisely the same order, telling first what he does (in
ver. 4, 5), and then what he says (in ver. 6), so that these two stanzas
are not only regular in their internal structure, but exactly fitted to each
other. This symmetrical adjustment is entitled to attention, as that feature
of the Hebrew poetry which fills the place of rhythm and metre in the
poetry of other nations. At the same time, it facilitates interpretation,
when allowed to speak for itself without artificial or unnatural straining,
by exhibiting the salient points of the passage in their true relation. The
transition here is a sublime one, from the noise and agitation of earth
to the safety and tranquillity of heaven. No shifting of the scene could be
more dramatic in effect or form. While the nations and their kings exhort
each other to cast off their allegiance to Jehovah, and thereby virtually
to dethrone him, he reposes far above them, and beyond their reach. Sitting in the heavens, i. e. resident and reigning there, he laughs, or will
laugh. This figure, strong and almost startling as it is, cannot possibly
be misunderstood by any reader, as a vivid expression of contemptuous
VER. 5-7.]
PSALM II.
15
security on God's part, and of impotent folly on the part of men. At them
may be supplied from Ps. xxxvii. 13, and lix. 9 (8); but it is not necessary, and the picture is perhaps more perfect, if we understand the laughter
here to be simply expressive of contempt, and the idea of directly laughing
at them to be first suggested in the other clause. The Lord, not Jehovah,
as in ver. 2, but Adhonai, the Hebrew word properly denoting Lord or
Sovereign as a divine title, the Lord shall mock them, or mock at them, as
the strongest possible expression of contempt. This verse conveys in the
most vivid manner, one indeed that would be inadmissible in any uninspired writer, the fatuity of all rebellious opposition to God's will. That
such is often suffered to proceed long with impunity is only, in the figurative language of this passage, because God first laughs at human folly,
and then smites it. "Who thought," says Luther, "when Christ suffered,
and the Jews triumphed, that God was laughing all the time?" Beneath
this bold anthropomorphism there is hidden a profound truth, namely,
that to all superior beings, and above all, to God himself, there is something in sin not only odious but absurd, something which cannot possibly
escape the contempt of higher, much less of the highest, intelligence.
5. This contemptuous repose and seeming indifference shall not last for
ever. Then, after having thus derided them, then, as the next stage in this
fearful process, he will speak to them, as they, after rising up against him,
spoke to one another in ver. 3. And in his heat, i. e. his hot displeasure,
the wrath to which the laughter of ver. 4 was but a prelude, he will agitate
them, terrify them, make them quake with fear, not as a separate act
from that described in the first clause, but by the very act of speaking to
them in his anger, the words spoken being given in the following verse.
6. The divine address begins, as it were, in the middle of a sentence;
but the clause suppressed is easily supplied, being tacitly involved in what
precedes. As if he had said, you renounce your allegiance and assert your
independence, and I, on my part, the pronoun when expressed in Hebrew
being commonly emphatic, and here in strong antithesis to those who are
addressed. You pursue your course and I mine. The translation yet,
though inexact and arbitrary, brings out the antithesis correctly in a different
form from that of the original. And I have constituted, or created, with
allusion in the Hebrew to the casting of an image, or as some less probably
suppose to unction, I have constituted my King, not simply a king, nor even
the king, neither of which expressions would be adequate, but my king, one
who is to reign for me and in indissoluble union with me, so that his reigning is identical with mine. This brings out still more clearly the intimate
relation of the Anointed to Jehovah, which had been indicated less distinctly in ver. 2, and thus prepares us for the full disclosure of their mutual
relation in ver. 7. And I have constituted my King upon Zion, my hill of
holiness, or holy hill, i. e. consecrated, set apart, distinguished from all
other hills and other places, as the seat of the theocracy, the royal residence, the capital
city, of the Lord and of his Christ, from the time that David took up his abode, and
deposited the ark there. The translation over Zion, would convey the false idea, that
Zion was itself the kingdom over which this sovereign was to reign, whereas it was
only the visible and temporary centre of a kingdom coextensive with the earth, as we
expressly read it, ver. 8, below. This shews that the application of the verse before
us to David himself, although intrinsically possible, is utterly at variance
with the context and the whole scope of the composition.
7. We have here another of those changes which impart to this whole
16
PSALM II.
VER. 7.
psalm a highly dramatic character. A third personage is introduced as
speaking without any formal intimation in the text. As the first stanza
(ver. 1-3) closes with the words of the insurgents, and the second (ver. 4-6)
with the words of the Lord, so the third (ver. 7-9) contains the language
of the king described in the preceding verse, announcing with his own lips
the law or constitution of his kingdom. I will declare, or let me declare,
the same form of the verb as in ver. 3, the decree, the statute, the organic
law or constitution of my kingdom. The Hebrew verb is followed by a
preposition, which may be expressed in English, without any change of
sense, by rendering the clause, I will declare, or make a declaration, i. e.
a public, formal announcement (as) to the law or constitution of my kingdom.
This announcement is then made in a historical form, by reciting what had
been said to the king at his inauguration or induction into office. Jehovah
said to me, My son (art) thou, this day have I begotten thee. Whether this
be regarded as a part of the decree or law itself, or as a mere preamble to
it, the relation here described is evidently one which carried with it universal dominion as a necessary consequence, as well as one which justifies
the use of the expression my King in ver. 6. It must be something more,
then, than a figure for intense love or peculiar favour, something more than
the filial relation which the theocratic kings, and Israel as a nation, bore to
God. (Exod. iv. 22; Deut. xiv. 1,2, xxxii. 6; Isa. lxiii. 16; Hos. xi. 1;
Mal. i. 6; Rom ix. 4.) Nor will any explanation of the terms fully meet
the requisitions of the context except one which supposes the relation here,
described as manifest in time to rest on one essential and eternal. This
alone accounts for the identification of the persons as possessing a common
interest, and reigning with and in each other. This profound sense of the
passage is no more excluded by the phrase this day, implying something
recent, than the universality of Christ's dominion is excluded by the local
reference to Zion. The point of time, like the point of space, is the finite
centre of an infinite circle. Besides, the mere form of the declaration is a
part of the dramatic scenery or costume with which the truth is here
invested. The ideas of a king, a coronation, a hereditary succession, are
all drawn from human and temporal associations. This day have I begotten
thee may be considered, therefore, as referring only to the coronation of
Messiah, which is an ideal one. The essential meaning of the phrase I
have begotten thee is simply this, I am thy father. The antithesis is perfectly identical with that in 2 Sam. vii. 14, "I will be his father, and he
shall be my son." Had the same form of expression been used here, this
day am I thy father, no reader would have understood this day as limiting
the mutual relation of the parties, however it might limit to a certain point
of time the formal recognition of it. It must also be observed, that even
if this day be referred to the inception of the filial relation, it is thrown
indefinitely back by the form of reminiscence or narration in the first clause
of the verse. Jehovah said to me, but when? If understood to mean from everlasting or
eternity, the form of expression would he perfectly in keeping with the other figurative
forms by which the Scriptures represent things really ineffable in human language. The
opinion that this passage is applied by Paul, in Acts xiii. 33, to Christ's resurrection, rests
upon a misapprehension of the verb raised up, which has this specific meaning only
when determined by the context or the addition of the words from the dead, as in
the next verse of the same chapter, which is so far from requiring the more
general expressions of the preceding verse to be taken in the same sense,
that it rather forbids such a construction, and shows that the two verses
VER. 8, 9.]
PSALM II.
17
speak of different stages in the same great process: first, the raising up of
Jesus in the same sense in which God is said to have raised him up in Acts
ii. 30, iii. 22, 26, vii. 36, i. e. bringing him into being as a man; and then
the raising up from the dead, which the apostle himself introduces as
another topic in Acts xiii. 34. There is nothing, therefore, inconsistent
with the statement that the psalmist here speaks of eternal sonship, either
in the passage just referred to, or in Heb. v. 5, where the words are only
cited to prove the solemn recognition of Christ's sonship, and his consequent authority, by God himself. This recognition was repeated, and, as
it were, realised at our Saviour's baptism and transfiguration (Mat. iii. 17,
xvii. 5), when a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased, hear ye him!"
8. The recital of Jehovah's declaration to his Son is still continued.
Ask of me, and I will give nations (as) thy heritage, i. e. thy portion as my
Son, and (as) thy (permanent) possession, from a verb denoting to hold fast,
the ends of the earth, a common Old Testament expression for the whole
earth, the remotest bounds and all that lies between them. The phrase is
never applied to a particular country, and cannot therefore be explained of
Palestine or David's conquests, without violently changing the sublime to
the ridiculous. The only subject, who can be assumed and carried through
without absurdity, is the Messiah, who, as the Son and heir of God, had a
right to ask this vast inheritance. That he had asked it and received it,
is implied in the dominion claimed for him in ver. 2 and 3, where the
nations are represented in revolt against him as their rightful sovereign.
It was to justify this claim that the divine decree is here recited, the constitution of
Messiah's kingdom, in which its limits are defined as co-extensive with the earth.
9. This extensive grant had been accompanied by that of power adequate to hold it. That power was to be exercised in wrath as well as
mercy. The former is here rendered prominent, because the previous context has respect to audacious rebels, over whom Messiah is invested with
the necessary power of punishment, and even of destruction. Thou shalt
break them with a rod (or sceptre) of iron, as the hardest metal, and therefore the best suited to the use in question. By a slight change of pointing
in the Hebrew, it may be made to mean, thou shalt feed them (as a shepherd) with a rod of iron, which is the sense expressed in several of the
ancient versions, and to which there may be an ironical allusion, as the
figure is a common one to represent the exercise of regal power. (See for
example 2 Sam. vii. 7, and Micah vii. 14.) Like a potter's vessel thou, shalt
shiver them, or dash them in pieces, which last, however, weakens the
expression by multiplying the words. The idea suggested by the last
comparison is that of easy and immediate destruction, perhaps with an
implication of worthlessness in the object. This view of the Messiah as a
destroyer is in perfect keeping with the New Testament doctrine, that those
who reject Christ will incur an aggravated doom, and that Christ himself
is in some sense the destroyer of those who will not let him be their
Saviour, or, to borrow terms from one of his own parables, in strict agreement with the scene presented by the psalm before us, "those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay
them before me" (Luke xix. 27). That false view of the divine nature
which regards God as delighting in the death of the sinner, is more revolting, but not more dangerous than that which looks upon his justice as extinguished by his mercy, and supposes that the death of Christ has rendered
18
PSALM II.
[VER. 10-12.
perdition impossible, even to those who will not believe in him. The terms of this verse
are repeatedly applied to Christ in the Book of Revelation (ii. 27, xii. 5, xix. 15).
10. The description having reached its height in the preceding verse,
there is here a sudden change of manner, a transition to the tone of earnest
admonition, still addressed, however, to the characters originally brought
upon the scene. And now (O) kings, after all that you have seen and
heard, after this demonstration that you cannot escape from the dominion
of Messiah, and that if you persist in your rebellion he will certainly destroy
you, be wise, act wisely; be warned, be admonished of your danger and your
duty, (O) judges of the earth! A specific function of the regal office is here
used as an equivalent or parallel to kings in the first clause, just as rulers
is employed for the same purpose in ver. 2. The change of tone in this
last strophe shews that the previous exhibition of Messiah as invested with
destroying power was, as it usually is in Scripture, only introductory to
another aspect of the same great object, which becomes more clear and
bright to the conclusion of the psalm. At the same time the original
dramatic structure is maintained; for the speaker, in this closing stanza,
is the Psalmist himself.
11. Serve the Lord, Jehovah, in the way that he requires, by acknowledging his Anointed as your rightful sovereign. Serve the Lord with fear,
religious awe, not only on account of his tremendous majesty, but also in
view of his vindicatory justice and destroying power. And shout, as a customary recognition of a present sovereign, with trembling, an external sign
of fear, employed as an equivalent or parallel to fear itself. The word
translated shout may also mean rejoice, as joy is often publicly expressed
by acclamation. The sense will then be, and rejoice with trembling, i. e.
exercise those mingled feelings which are suited to your present situation,
in full view of God's wrath on one side, and his mercy on the other. This
explanation agrees well with the transition, in these verses, from the tone
of terrible denunciation to that of friendly admonition and encouragement.
12. Lest the exhortation in the preceding verse should seem to have
respect to Jehovah as an absolute sovereign, without reference to any other
person, the attention is again called to his King, his Anointed, and his
Son, as the sovereign to whom homage must be paid, in order to escape
destruction. Kiss the Son, an ancient mode of doing homage or allegiance
to a king (1 Sam. x. 1), sometimes applied to the dress, and sometimes to
the person, either of the sovereign or the subject himself. Even in modern
European courts the kissing of the hand has this significance. In the case
before us there may possibly be an allusion to the kiss as a religious act
among the heathen (1 Kings xix. 18; Hos. xiii. 2; Job xxxi. 27). Kiss
the Son, the Son of God, the Messiah, so called by the Jews in Christ's
time (John i. 50; Matt. xxvi. 63; Mark xi-v. 61; Luke xxii. 70): do
him homage, own him as your sovereign, lest he be angry, and ye lose the
way, i. e. the way to happiness and heaven, as in Ps. i. 6, or perish from
the way, which is the same thing in another form, or perish by the way, i. e.
before you reach your destination. All these ideas are suggested by the
Hebrew phrase, which is unusual. The necessity of prompt as well as
humble submission is then urged. For his wrath will soon burn, or be
kindled. The translation, "when his wrath is kindled but a little," does
not yield so good a meaning, and requires two of the original expressions
to be taken in a doubtful and unusual sense. The same view of the
Messiah as a judge and an avenger, which appeared in ver. 9, is again
VER. 1.]
PSALM III.
19
presented here, but only for a moment, and as a prelude to the closing beatitude or benediction. Blessed (are) all, oh the felicities of all, those trusting
him, believing on him, and confiding in him. This delightful contrast of
salvation and perdition, at one and the same view, is characteristic of the
Scriptures, and should teach us not to look ourselves, and not to turn the
eyes of others, towards either of these objects without due regard to the
other also. The resemblance in the language of this verse to that of Ps.
i. 1 and 6, brings the two into connection, as parts of one harmonious composition, or at least as kindred and contemporaneous products of a single
mind, under the influence of one and the same Spirit.
PSALM III.
THIS Psalm contains a strong description of the enemies and dangers by
which the writer was surrounded, and an equally strong expression of confidence that God would extricate him from them, with particular reference
to former deliverances of the same kind. Its place in the collection does
not seem to be fortuitous or arbitrary. It was probably among the first of
David's lyrical compositions, the two which now precede it having been
afterwards prefixed to the collection. In these three psalms there is a
sensible gradation or progressive development of one great idea. The
general contrast, which the first exhibits, of the righteous and the wicked,
is reproduced, in the second, as a war against the Lord and his Anointed.
In the third it is still further individualised as a conflict between David,
the great historical type of the Messiah, and his enemies. At the same
time, the expressions are so chosen as to make the psalm appropriate to
its main design, that of furnishing a vehicle of pious feeling to the church
at large, and to its individual members in their own emergencies. The
structure of the psalm is regular, consisting of four double verses, besides
the title.
1. A Psalm of David, literally (belonging) to David, i. e. as the author.
This is not a mere inscription, but a part of the text and inseparable from
it, so far as we can trace its history. It was an ancient usage, both among
classical and oriental writers, for the author to introduce his own name into
the first sentence of his composition. The titles of the psalms ought, therefore, not to have been printed in a different type, or as something added to
the text, which has led some editors to omit them altogether. In all
Hebrew manuscripts they bear the same relation to the body of the psalm,
that the inscriptions in the prophet's or in Paul's epistles bear to the substance of the composition. In the case before us, as in every other, the
inscription is in perfect keeping with the psalm itself, as well as with the
parallel history. Besides the author's name, it here states the historical
occasion of the composition. A Psalm of David, in his fleeing, when he
fled, from the face, from the presence, or before, Absalom, his son (see
2 Sam. xv. 14, 17, 30). Such a psalm might well be conceived, and even
composed, if not actually written, in the midst of the dangers and distresses
which occasioned it. There is no need therefore of supposing the reference
to be merely retrospective. That the terms used are so general, is because
the psalm, though first suggested by the writer's personal experience, was
intended for more general use.
2 (1). O Lord, Jehovah, the name of God as self-existent and eternal,
and also as the covenant God of Israel, how many, or how multiplied, are
20
PSALM III.
[VER. 2-4.
my foes, my oppressors or tormentors! This is not a question, but an
exclamation of surprise and grief. Many rising up against me. The sentence may either be completed thus: many (are they) that rise up against
me; or the construction of the other clause may be continued. (How)
many (are there) rising up against me! The same periphrasis for enemies is
used by Moses, Deut. xxviii. 7. What is here said of the multitude of
enemies agrees well with the historical statement in 2 Sam. xv. 13, xvi. 18.
3 (2). (There are) many saying, or, (how) many (are there) saying to my
soul, i. e. so as to affect my heart, though really said of him, not directly
addressed to him. (Compare Ps. xxxv. 3; Isa. li. 23.) There is no salvation, deliverance from evil, whether temporal, spiritual, or eternal. There
is no salvation for him, the sufferer, and primarily the psalmist himself, in
God, i. e. in his power, or his purpose, implying either that God does not
concern himself about such things, Ps. x. 11, or that he has cast the sufferer off, Ps. xlii. 4, 11 (3, 10), lxxi. 11, xxii. 8, 9 (7, 8); Matt. xxvii. 43.
This is the language, not of despondent friends, but of malignant enemies, and is really the worst that even such could say of him. For, as
Luther well says, all the temptations in the world, and in hell too, melted
together into one, are nothing when compared with the temptation to
despair of God's mercy. The first stanza, or double verse, closes, like the
second and fourth, with the word Selah. This term occurs seventy-three
times in the psalms, and three times in the prophecy of Habakkuk. It
corresponds to rest, either as a noun or verb, and like it is properly a
musical term, but generally indicates a pause in the sense as well as the
performance. See below, on Ps. ix. 17 (16). Like the titles, it invariably
forms part of the text, and its omission by some editors and translators is
a mutilation of the word of God. In the case before us, it serves as a kind
of pious ejaculation to express the writer's feelings, and, at the same time,
warns the reader to reflect on what he reads, just as our Saviour was accustomed to say: He that hath ears to hear let him hear.
4 (3). From his earthly enemies and dangers he looks up to God, the
source of his honours and his tried protector. The connection is similar
to that between the fifth and sixth verses of the second psalm. The and
(not but) has reference to a tacit comparison or contrast. This is my treatment at the hands of men, and thou, on the other hand, O Lord, Jehovah,
(art) a shield about me, or around me, i. e. covering my whole body, not
merely a part of it, as ordinary shields do. This is a favourite metaphor
with David; see Ps. vii. 11 (10), xviii. 3 (2), xxviii. 7. It occurs, however, more than once in the Pentateuch; see Gen. xv. 1; Deut. xxxiii. 29.
My honour, i. e. the source of the honours I enjoy, with particular reference, no doubt, to his royal dignity, not as a secular distinction merely,
but in connection with the honour put upon him as a type and representative of Christ. The honour thus bestowed by God he might well be expected
to protect. My honour, and the (one) raising my head, i. e. making me look up from
my despondency. The whole verse is an appeal to the psalmist's previous experience
of God's goodness as a ground for the confidence afterwards expressed.
5 (4). (With) my voice to the Lord, Jehovah, I will call, or cry. The
future form of the verb is probably intended to express continued or habitual action, as in Ps. i. 2. I cry and will cry still. And he hears me, or,
then he hears me, i. e. when I call. The original construction shews, in a
peculiar manner, the dependence of the last verb on the first, which can
hardly be conveyed by an exact translation. The second verb is not the
VER. 5-7.]
PSALM III.
21
usual verb to hear, but one especially appropriated to the gracious hearing
or answering of prayer. And he hears (or answers) me from his hill of holiness, or holy hill. This, as we learn from Ps. ii. 6, is Zion, the seat and
centre of the old theocracy, the place where God visibly dwelt among his
people. This designation of a certain spot as the earthly residence of God,
was superseded by the incarnation of his Son, whose person thenceforth
took the place of the old sanctuary. It was, therefore, no play upon words
or fanciful allusion, when our Saviour "spake of the temple of his body"
(John ii. 21), but a disclosure of the true sense of the sanctuary under the
old system, as designed to teach the doctrine of God's dwelling with his
people. The same confidence with which the Christian now looks to God
in Christ the old believer felt towards the holy hill of Zion. Here again the strophe
ends with a devout and meditative pause, denoted as before by Selah.
6 (5.) I, even I, whose case you regarded as so desperate, have lain down,
and slept, (and) awaked, notwithstanding all these dangers, for the Lord,
Jehovah, will sustain me, and I therefore have no fears to rob me of my
sleep. This last clause is not a reason for the safety he enjoys, which
would require the past tense, but for his freedom from anxiety, in reference
to which the future is entirely appropriate. This construction, the only
one which gives the Hebrew words their strict and full sense, forbids the
supposition that the psalm before us was an evening song, composed on the
night of David's flight from Jerusalem. If any such distinctions be admissible or necessary, it may be regarded as a morning rather than an evening
hymn.
7 (6). The fearlessness implied in the preceding verse is here expressed.
I will not be afraid of myriads, or multitudes, the Hebrew word being used
both in a definite and vague sense. It also contains an allusion to the first
verb in ver. 2 (1), of which it is a derivative. I will not be afraid of
myriads of people, either in the sense of persons, men, or by a poetic licence
for the people, i. e. Israel, the great mass of whom had now revolted.
Whom they, my enemies, have set, or posted, round about against me. This
is a simpler and more accurate construction than the reflexive one, who
have set (themselves) against me round about, although the essential meaning
still remains the same. The sum of the whole verse is, that the same
courage which enabled him to sleep without disturbance in the midst of
enemies and dangers, still sustained him when those enemies and dangers
were presented to his waking senses.
8 (7). That this courage was not founded upon self-reliance, he now
shews by asking God for that which he before expressed his sure hope of
obtaining. Arise, O Lord, Jehovah! This is a common scriptural mode
of calling upon God to manifest his presence and his power, either in wrath
or favour. By a natural anthropomorphism, it describes the intervals of
such manifestations as periods of inaction or of slumber, out of which he
is besought to rouse himself. Save me, even me, of whom they say there
is no help for him in God. See above, ver. 3 (2). Save me, O my God,
mine by covenant and mutual engagement, to whom I therefore have a
right to look for deliverance and protection. This confidence is warranted,
moreover, by experience. For thou hast, in former exigencies, smitten all
my enemies, without exception, (on the) cheek or jaw, an act at once violent
and insulting. See 1 Kings xxii. 24; Micah iv. 14; v. 1; Lam. iii. 30.
The teeth of the wicked, here identified with his enemies, because he was
the champion and representative of God's cause, thou hast broken, and thus
22
PSALM IV.
[VER. 1.
rendered harmless. The image present to his mind seems to be that of
wild beasts eager to devour him, under which form his enemies are represented in Ps. xxvii. 2.
9 (8). To the Lord, Jehovah, the salvation, which I need and hope for,
is or belongs, as to its only author and dispenser. To him, therefore, he
appeals for the bestowment of it, not on himself alone, but on the church
of which he was the visible and temporary head. On thy people (be)
thy blessing! This earnest and disinterested intercession for God's people
forms a noble close or winding up of the whole psalm, and is therefore
preferable to the version, on thy people (is) thy blessing, which, though
equally grammatical, is less significant, and indeed little more than a repetition of the fact asserted in the first clause, whereas this is really an importunate petition founded on it. The whole closes, like the first and
second stanzas, with a solemn and devout pause. SELAH.
PSALM IV.
THE Psalmist prays God to deliver him from present as from past distresses, ver. 2 (1). He assures the haters of his regal dignity that God
bestowed it, and will certainly protect it, ver. 3, 4 (2, 3). He exhorts
them to quiet submission, righteousness, and trust in God, ver. 5, 6 (4, 5).
He contrasts his own satisfaction, springing from such trust, with the hopeless disquietude of others, even in the midst of their enjoyments, ver. 7, 8
(6, 7). He closes with an exquisite proof of his tranquillity by falling
asleep, as it were, before us, under the divine protection, ver. 9 (8). The
resemblance of the last verse to ver. 6 (5) of the preceding psalm, together
with the general similarity of structure, shews that, like the first and second,
they were meant to form a pair, or double psalm. For the reasons given
in explaining Ps. iii. 6 (5), the third may be described as a morning, and
the fourth as an evening psalm. The historical occasion is of course
the same in both, though mentioned only in the title of the third, while
the musical directions are given in the title of the fourth. The absence of
personal and local allusions is explained by the object of the composition,
which was not to express private feelings merely, but to furnish a vehicle
of pious sentiment for other sufferers, and the church at large.
1. To the chief musician, literally the overseer or superintendent, of any
work or labour (2 Chron. ii. 1, 17, xxxiv. 12), and of the temple music in
particular (1 Chron. xv. 21). The psalm is described as belonging to him,
as the performer, or as intended for him, to be given to him. This shows
that it was written for the use of the ancient church, and not for any merely
private purpose. That this direction was not added by a later hand is
clear from the fact that it never appears in the latest psalms. The same
formula occurs at the beginning of fifty-three psalms, and at the close of
the one in the third chapter of Habakkuk. A more specific musical direction follows. In, on, or with stringed instruments. This may either qualify
chief musician, as denoting the leader in that particular style of performance, or direct him to perform this particular psalm with that kind of accompaniment. A psalm to David, i. e. belonging to him as the author, just as
it belonged to the chief musician, as the performer. The original expression is the same in both cases. Of David conveys the sense correctly, but
is rather a paraphrase than a translation.
2 (1). The psalm opens with a prayer for deliverance founded on pre-
VER. 2, 3.]
PSALM IV.
23
vious experience of God's mercy. In my calling, when I call, hear me, in
the pregnant sense of hearing favourably, hear and answer me, grant me
what I ask. O my God of righteousness, my righteous God! Compare
my hill of holiness, Ps. ii. 6, and his hill of holiness, Ps. iii. 5 (4). The
appeal to God, as a God of righteousness, implies the justice of the Psalmist's cause, and spews that he asks nothing inconsistent with God's holiness. The same rule should govern all our prayers, which must be impious if
they ask God to deny himself. The mercy here asked is no new or untried
favour. It is because he has experienced it before that he dares to ask it
now. In the pressure, or confinement, a common figure for distress, which
I have heretofore experienced, thou hast widened, or made room for me, the
corresponding figure for relief. All he asks is that this may be repeated.
Have mercy upon me, or be gracious unto me, now as in former times, and
hear my prayer. This appeal to former mercies, as a ground for claiming new
ones, is characteristic of the Bible and of true religion. Among men past
favours may forbid all further expectations; but no such rule applies to
the divine compassions. The more we draw from this source, the more
copious and exhaustless it becomes.
3 (2). Sons of man! In Hebrew, as in Greek, Latin, and German,
there are two words answering to man, one generic and the other specific.
When placed in opposition to each other, they denote men of high and low
degree, as in Ps. xlix. 3 (2), lxii. 10 (9), Prov. viii. 4. It seems better,
therefore, to give the phrase here used its emphatic sense, as signifying men
of note or eminence, rather than the vague one of men in general or human
beings. This agrees, moreover, with the probable occasion of this psalm,
viz., the rebellion of Absalom, in which the leading men of Israel were
involved. To what (time), i. e. how long, or to what (point), degree of
wickedness; most probably the former. How long (shall) my honour, not
merely personal, but official, (be) for shame, i. e. be so accounted, or (be
converted) into shame, by my humiliation? David never loses sight of his
religious dignity as a theocratical king and a type of the Messiah, or of the
insults offered to the latter in his person. The question, how long? implies that it had lasted long enough, nay, too long, even when it first began;
in other words, that it was wrong from the beginning. (How long) will ye
love vanity, or a vain thing, in the sense both of a foolish, hopeless undertaking, and of something morally defective or worthless. The same word
is used above in reference to the insurrection of the nations against God
and Christ (Ps. ii. 1). (How long) will ye seek a lie, i. e. seek to realise a
vain imagination, or to verify a false pretension, with particular reference
perhaps to the deceitful policy of Absalom (2 Sam. xv. 4, 7). As the love
of the first clause denotes the bent of their affections, so the seek of this
clause signifies the acting out of their internal dispositions. Compare Ps.
xxxiv. 15 (14), and Zeph. ii. 3. The feeling of indignant surprise implied
in the interrogation is expressed still further by a solemn pause. Selah.
See above, on Ps. iii. 3 (2). The position of this word, here and in ver. 5 (4) below,
seems to forbid the division of the psalm into strophes or stanzas of equal length.
4 (3). The pause at the close of the preceding verse expresses feeling.
The connection of the verses, as to sense, is as intimate as possible. The
and at the beginning of the verse before us has reference to the exhortation
implied in the foregoing question. (See above, on Ps. ii. 6.) Cease to
love vanity and seek a lie, and know, be assured, that the Lord, Jehovah,
hath set apart, the same verb used to signify the segregation of Israel from
24
PSALM IV.
[VER. 4.
the rest of men (Ex. viii. 18, ix. 4, xi. 7, xxxiii. 16), here applied to the
designation of an individual to the highest theocratical dignity. The Lord
hath set apart for himself, for his own service, the execution of his own plans,
and the promotion of his own honour. It was not, therefore, an attack on
David, but on God himself and the Messiah whom he represented. The
Hebrew word dysiHA derived from ds,H,, love to God or man, may either
signify an object of the divine mercy, or one actuated by religious love. If
both ideas are included, which is altogether probable, neither godly nor any
other single word in English is an adequate translation. The predominant
idea seems to be the passive one, so that the words are not so much descriptive of religious character as of divine choice: and know that the Lord
hath set apart for the accomplishment of his own purpose one selected in
his sovereign mercy for that purpose. This is mentioned as a proof that
their hostility was vain, and that the prayer of verse 2 (1) would certainly
be heard and answered. This followed as a necessary consequence from
the relation which the Psalmist bore to God, not only as a godly man, but
as a theocratic sovereign. The Lord, Jehovah, will hear, in my calling,
when I call, unto him. The terms of the opening petition are here studiously repeated, so as to connect the prayer itself with the expression of
assured hope that it will be answered.
5 (4). The address to his enemies is still continued, but merely as a
vehicle of truth and his own feelings. Rage and sin not, i. e. do not sin
by raging, as you have done, against me, the Lord's Anointed, and indirectly
therefore against himself. This construction of the Hebrew words, though
not the most obvious or agreeable to usage, agrees best with the context
and with the Septuagint version, adopted by Paul in Ephesians iv. 26, where
the precept, Be ye angry and sin not, seems to be a positive prohibition of
anger, i. e., of its wilful continuance, as appears from what the apostle adds,
perhaps in allusion to the last clause of the verse before us. Some, it is
true, have understood Paul as meaning, Be angry upon just occasions, but
be careful not to sin by groundless anger or excess. But even if this be
the sense of the words there, it is entirely inappropriate here, where the
anger of the enemies was altogether sinful, and they could not therefore be
exhorted to indulge it. There is still another meaning which the Hebrew
words will bear. The verb strictly means to be violently moved with any
passion or emotion, whether anger (Prov. xxix. 9), grief (2 Sam. xviii. 33),
or fear (Isa. xxxii. 11). It might therefore be translated here, tremble,
stand in awe, and sin not. But this, although it yields a good sense, cuts
off all connection between David's words and those of Paul, and makes the
explanation of the latter still more difficult. The English word rage not
only conveys the sense of the original correctly, but is probably connected
with it in its etymology. The command to cease from raging against God
and his Anointed, is still further carried out in the next clause. Say in
your heart, to yourselves, and not aloud, much less with clamour, what you
have to say. The Hebrew verb does not mean to speak but to say, and,
like this English word, is always followed by the words spoken, except in
a few cases where they can be instantly supplied from the context. E. g.
Exod. xix. 25, "So Moses went unto the people and said (not spake) to them"
what God had just commanded him. Gen. iv. 8, "And Cain said to Abel
his brother (not talked with him)," let us go into the field, as appears from
what immediately follows. Compare 2 Chron. ii. 10 (11). It might here
be rendered, say (so) in your heart, i. e. say we will no longer sin by raging
VER. 5-8.]
PSALM IV.
25
against David; but the other is more natural, and agrees better with what
follows. Say (what you do say) in your heart, upon your bed, i. e. in the
silence of the night, often spoken of in Scripture as the season of reflection (Eph. iv. 26), and be still, be silent, implying repentance and submission to authority. The effect of this exhortation to be still is beautifully
strengthened by a pause in the performance. Selah.
6 (5). Before his enemies can be successful they must have a fear of
God and a faith, of which they are entirely destitute. This confirmation
of the Psalmist's hopes is clothed in the form of an exhortation to his
enemies. Offer offerings, or sacrifice sacrifices, of righteousness, i. e. righteous
sacrifices, prompted by a right motive, and implying a correct view of the
divine nature. There may be an allusion to the hypocritical services of
Absalom, and especially his pretended vow (2 Sam. xv. 7, 8). The form of
expression here is borrowed from Deut. xxxiii. 19. As an indispensable
prerequisite to such a service, he particularly mentions faith. And trust in
the Lord, Jehovah, not in any human help or temporal advantages.
7 (6). Many (there are) saying, Who will shew us good? This may be
in allusion to the anxious fears of his companions in misfortune, but is more
probably a picture of the disquiet and unsatisfied desire arising from the
want of faith and righteousness described in the foregoing verse. Of all
who do not trust in God it may be said, that they are continually asking
Who will shew us good, who will shew us wherein happiness consists, and
how we may obtain it? In contrast with this restlessness of hope or of
despair, he shews his own acquaintance with the true source of tranquillity
by a petition founded on the ancient and authoritative form in which the
High Priest was required to bless the people (Num. vi. 24-26). "The
Lord bless thee and keep thee; the Lord make his face shine upon thee
and be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and
give thee peace." Two of these solemn benedictions are here mingled in
a prayer. Lift upon us the light of thy countenance, O Lord, Jehovah!
The light of the countenance is a favourite figure in the Psalms, for a favourable aspect or expression. See Ps. xxxi. 17 (16), xliv. 4 (3), lxxx. 4 (3). The
lifting up may have reference to the rising of the sun, or be put in opposition to the act of looking down or away from any object, as a token of
aversion or displeasure. Upon us extends the prayer to his companions in
misfortune, or to all God's people, or to men in general, as if he had said, This is the
only hope of our lost race. The plural form may be compared with those in the
Lord's Prayer, as indicating the expansive comprehensive spirit of true piety.
8 (7). The faith, of which his enemies were destitute, he possessed in
such a measure, that the mere anticipation of God's favour made him
happier, in the midst of his distresses, than his foes in the actual possession of their temporal advantages. Thou hast given gladness in my heart,
not to my heart, but to me in my heart, i. e. a real, inward, heartfelt gladness, more than the time, or more than when, i. e. more than they ever enjoyed when their corn and their wine abounded, or increased. The original
nouns properly denote the new corn and wine of the passing year, the fresh
fruits of the field and vineyard. The reference may be either to the proverbial joy of harvest and of vintage, or to the abundant stores of David's
enemies contrasted with his own condition when dependent on a faithful
servant for subsistence (2 Sam. xvi. 1, 2).
9 (8). With this faith in the divine protection, he has nothing even to
disturb his rest. In peace, tranquillity, composure, at once, or at the same
26
PSALM IV.
[VER. 8.
time, by the same act, I will lie down and will sleep, or rather go to sleep,
fall asleep, which is the meaning of the Hebrew verb in Gen. ii. 21, xli. 5,
1 Kings xix. 5, and elsewhere. Nothing could be more natural and beautiful, as a description of complete tranquillity, than this trait borrowed from
the physical habits of the young, the healthy, and those free from all
anxiety, to whom the act of lying down and that of sleeping are almost
coincident. The ground of this security is given in the last clause. For
thou, Lord, Jehovah, alone in safety, or security, wilt make me dwell. The
future form, though not exclusive of the present (see above, on Ps. i. 2),
should be retained because it indicates the Psalmist's assured hope of
something not yet realised, and is thus in perfect keeping with ver. 8 (7).
Alone may be connected with what goes before: for thou Lord, and no
other, thou, even though all other friends and advantages should fail me, art
sufficient to protect and provide for me. Or it may be connected with
what follows: alone, in safety, thou wilt make me dwell. There is then an
allusion to the repeated application of the same Hebrew word to Israel as
dwelling apart from other nations under God's protection and in the enjoyment of his favour. See Num. xxiii. 9, Duet. xxxiii. 28, 29, and compare Micah vii. 14, Jer. xlix. 31, Deut. iv. 7, 8, 2 Sam. vii. 23. What
was originally said of the people is then transferred, as in ver. 4 (3)
above, to David, not as a private member of the ancient church, however
excellent, but as its theocratic head and representative, in whom, as afterwards more perfectly in Christ, the promises to Israel were verified and
realised. This last interpretation of alone is so striking, and agrees so
well with the other allusions in this context to the Pentateuch, e. g. to Lev.
xxv. 18, 19, and Deut. xxxiii. 12 in this verse, and to Num. vi. 24-26 in
ver. 7 (6), that some combine the two constructions, and suppose alone to
have a kind of double sense, as if he had said, Thou alone wilt make me
dwell alone. Although the form of this verse has respect to the particular
historical occasion of the psalm, the sentiment is so expressed as to admit
of an unforced application to the ease of every suffering believer, and to the
distresses of the church at large, for whose use it was not only left on
record but originally written.
PSALM V.
THE Psalmist prays for the divine help, ver. 2 (1), on the ground that
Jehovah is his King and his God, ver. 3 (2), that he early and constantly
invokes his aid, ver. 4 (3), that the enemies, from whom he seeks to be delivered, are the enemies of God, ver. 5, 6 (4, 5), and as such must inevitably perish, ver. 7 (6), while he, as the representative of God's friends, must
be rescued, ver. 8 (7). He then goes over the same ground afresh, asking
again to be protected from his enemies, ver. 9 (8), again describing them as
desperately wicked, ver. 10 (9), again appealing to God's justice to destroy
them, ver. 11 (10), and again anticipating certain triumph, ver. 12 (11),
on the ground of God's habitual and uniform dealing with the righteous,
ver. 13 (12). As the two preceding psalms appear to constitute a pair, so
this one seems to contain such a pair or double psalm within itself. It is
also obvious that this is but a further variation of the theme which runs
through the preceding psalms, and therefore an additional proof that their
arrangement in the book is not fortuitous or arbitrary. If ver. 4 (3) of
this psalm be supposed to mark it as a morning hymn, its affinity to the
two before it becomes still more close and striking.
VER. 1-3.]
PSALM V.
27
1. To (or for) the Chief Musician. See above on Ps. iv. 1. To (or for)
Nehiloth. This, though undoubtedly a part of the original inscription, is
obscure and enigmatical. Its very obscurity indeed may be regarded as a
proof of its antiquity and genuineness. Some understand it to mean flutes
or wind-instruments in general, as Neginoth, in the title of the fourth
psalm, means stringed instruments. The sense would then be: (to be
sung) to (an accompaniment of) flutes or wind-instruments. But as the
Hebrew word is nowhere else used in this sense, and the preposition here
employed is not the one prefixed to names of instruments, and flutes are
nowhere mentioned as a part of the temple music, others make Nehiloth
the name of a tune, or of another song to the melody of which this was
to be adapted: (to be sung) to (the air of) Nehiloth. Others follow the
ancient version in making it refer, not to the musical performance, but the
subject of the psalm: (as) to inheritances, lots, or destinies, viz. those of
the righteous and the wicked. This is favoured by the circumstance, that
most of the other enigmatical inscriptions of the psalms may be more probably explained as having reference to their theme or subject than in any
other manner. The title closes, as in the foregoing psalm, by ascribing it
to David as its author. Nor is there anything, as we shall see, to militate
against the truth of this inscription.
2 (1). To my words, O Lord, Jehovah, give ear, perceive my thought.
Attend not only to my vocal and audible petitions, but to my unexpressed
desires, to those "groanings which cannot be uttered," but are no less
significant to God than language (Rom. viii. 26, 27). The second verb
suggests the idea of attention, as well as that of simple apprehension.
3 (2). Hearken to the voice of my crying, or my cry for help, to which
the Hebrew word is always specially applied. My king and my God, not
as a mere creator and providential ruler, but as the covenant God and king
of Israel, whom David represented. As he was himself the king of Israel,
so God was his king, the lord paramount or sovereign, in whose right he
reigned. This address involves a reason why his prayer must be heard.
God, as the king of his people, could not deny them his protection, and
they asked no other. For to thee, and thee only, will I pray. As if he
had said, It is in this capacity that I invoke thee, and I therefore must
be heard. This is a specimen of that par>r[hsi<a, or freedom of speech towards God, which is recognised as an effect and evidence of faith, in the New as well
as the Old Testament, Heb. iv. 16, x. 19, 35; 1 John ii. 28, iii. 21, iv. 17, v. 14.
4 (3). O Lord, Jehovah, (in) the morning thou shalt hear my voice.
This is not so much a request to be heard as a resolution to persist in
prayer. The reference may be either to stated hours of prayer or to early
devotion as a proof of earnestness and faith. See Ps. lv. 18 (17), lxxxviii.
14 (13.) (In) the morning I will set (my prayer) in order, to (or for) thee.
There is here a beautiful allusion to the Mosaic ritual, which is unavoidably
lost in a translation. The Hebrew verb is the technical term used in the
Old Testament to signify the act of arranging the wood upon the altar
(Gen. xxii. 9, Lev. i. 7, 1 Kings xviii. 33), and the shewbread on the table
(Exod. xl. 23, Lev. xxiv. 6, 8). It would therefore necessarily suggest the
idea of prayer as an oblation, here described as a kind of morning sacrifice
to God. And I will look out, or watch, for an answer to my prayers. The
image presented is that of one looking from a wall or tower in anxious
expectation of approaching succour. A similar use of the same verb
occurs in Hab. ii. 1, and Micah vii. 7. True faith is not contented
28
PSALM V.
[VER. 4-7.
with the act of supplication, but displays itself in eager expectation of an answer.
5 (4). Here, as elsewhere, the Psalmist identifies his cause with God's,
and anticipates the downfall of his enemies because they are sinners and
therefore odious in God's sight. For not a God delighting in wickedness (art)
thou, as might appear to be the case if these should go unpunished. It is
necessary, therefore, for the divine honour, that they should not go unpunished. Not with thee, as thy guest or friend, shall evil, or the bad (man),
dwell. For an opposite use of the same figure, see below, Ps. xv. 1, lxi.
5 (4). It is still implied, that the impunity of sinners would appear as if
God harboured and abetted them, and therefore must be inconsistent with
his honour as a holy God.
6 (5). What was said in the preceding verse of sin is here, to prevent
misapprehension, said of sinners. They shall not stand, the proud, or
insolent, here put for wicked men in general and for the Psalmist's enemies
in particular, before thine eyes. Thou canst not bear the presence of thy
moral opposites. Sin is not only opposed to God's will, but repugnant to
his nature. By ceasing to hate it, he would cease to be holy, cease to be
perfect, cease to be God. This idea is expressed more directly in the other
clause. Thou hast hated, and must still hate, all doers of iniquity. This
last word is originally a negative, meaning inanity or nonentity, but like
several other negatives in Hebrew, is employed as a strong term to denote
moral deficiency and worthlessness.
7 (6). As the preceding verse extends what was said of sin in the abstract
to personal offenders, so here what was said of the divine dispositions is
applied to divine acts. That which God hates he must destroy. Particular
classes of transgressors are here put, as before, by way of specimen or
sample, for the whole; with special reference, however, to the sins of
David's enemies. Thou wilt destroy speakers of falsehood; see above, on
Ps. iv. 3 (2.) A man of blood, literally bloods, the plural form being commonly used where there is reference to blood-guiltiness or murder. See
Gen. iv. 10, 11 ; Ps. li. 16 (14). A man of blood and fraud, a bloody and
deceitful man, the Lord, Jehovah, will abhor; he must and will skew his
abhorrence by the punishment of such offenders. This confident anticipation of God's righteous retributions really involves a prayer for the deliverance of the Psalmist from his enemies.
8 (7). For the same reason he is equally confident in the anticipation of
his own deliverance. Since his enemies must perish as the enemies of God,
he must escape, not on account of his own merit, nor simply as an object
of God's favour, but as the champion of his cause, his earthly vicegerent,
the type and representative of his Messiah. And I, as distinguished from
these sinners, in the abundance of thy mercy, which excludes all reliance on
his own strength or goodness, will come to thy house, the tabernacle set up
on Mount Zion by David. I will worship, literally prostrate or bow myself,
towards thy temple of holiness, thy holy temple, or rather palace, so called
as the residence of Israel's divine King, and therefore no less applicable to
the tabernacle than the temple. See 1 Sam. i. 9, iii. 3, Ps. xxvii. 4,
xxviii. 2. Towards, not in, because the worshippers did not go into the
sanctuary itself, but worshipped in the court, with their faces turned towards
the place of God's manifested presence. Such usages are now superseded
by the advent of the true sanctuary. See above, on Ps. iii. 5 (4). In thy
fear, the reverence engendered even by the view and the experience of God's
mercy. There may be an allusion in this verse to David's painful sense of
VER. 8-11.]
PSALM V.
29
his exclusion from the house of God (2 Sam. xv. 25); but it cannot be
merely an anticipation of renewed access to the sanctuary, which was
equally open to all others, and could not therefore be used to indicate the
contrast between his condition and that of others. The verse is rather an
engagement to acknowledge God's delivering mercy in the customary manner. See below, Ps. lxvi. 13. As if he had said, While my enemies
perish by the hand of God, I shall be brought by his mercy to give thanks
for my deliverance at his sanctuary.
9 (8). The Psalmist here begins his prayer and argument anew, pursuing
the same order as before. O Lord, Jehovah, lead me, guide me safely,
in thy righteousness, i. e. in the exercise of that same justice which destroys
my enemies, on account of my enemies, that they may not triumph; make
straight before my face thy way, i. e. mark out a safe and easy path for me
to tread. The explanation of the way as that of duty and obedience,
although not at variance with scriptural usage, is less suited to the context
here, in which the prayer throughout is for protection and deliverance.
10 (9). The same reason as before is now assigned for his deliverance
from his enemies, viz. because they were the enemies of God, and they
were such because they were atrocious sinners. For there is nothing in his
mouth, i. e. the mouth of any one of them, or of all concentrated in one ideal
person, sure or certain, i. e. true. Their inside, their heart; their real disposition, as distinguished from the outward appearance, (is) mischiefs, injuries, or crimes, consists of nothing else. A grave opened, to receive the
victim, (is) their throat, like that of a devouring monster. Or the throat
may be mentioned as an organ of speech, as in Ps. cxlix. 6, cxv. 7, and
compared with the grave as a receptacle of corruption or a place of destruction. Their tongue they smooth, or make smooth, by hypocrisy or
flattery, as the wicked woman is said to make her words smooth, Prov. ii.
16, vii. 5. The Septuagint version of this clause is quoted by Paul (Rom.
iii. 13), with several other passages from the Old Testament, as a strong
description of human depravity. The last words are rendered in that
version, "with their tongues they have used craft or deceit," an idea really
included in the literal translation.
11 (10). Condemn them, literally make them guilty, i. e. recognise and
treat them as such, O God! They shall fall, i. e. they must, they cannot
but fall, a common figure for destruction (Ps. xxxvi. 13, cxli. 10), from their
plans, i. e., before they can accomplish them, or in consequence, by means
of them. (Compare Hos. xi. 6). In the fulness, or abundance, of their
sins, thrust them forth, cast them out from thy presence, and down from
their present exaltation. For they have rebelled against thee, not me, or
against me only as thy instrument and representative. Or the opposition
may be between rebelling against God and simply sinning against man.
The imperative and future forms, in this verse, both express the certainty
of the event, with an implication of approving acquiescence. Such expressions, in the Psalms, have never really excited or encouraged a spirit of
revenge in any reader, and are no more fitted to have that effect than the
act of a judge who condemns a criminal to death, or of the officer who
executes the sentence. The objections often urged against such passages
are not natural, but spring from over-refinement and a false view of the
Psalms as expressions of mere personal feeling. See below, on Ps. vii.13 (12).
12 (11). The transition and contrast are the same as in ver. 8 (7) above.
While the wicked perish, the righteous shall have cause for everlasting joy.
30
PSALM V.
[VER. 12.
And all (those) trusting in thee, making thee their refuge, shall be glad; for
ever shall they shout (or sing) for joy, and (not without cause, for) thou wilt
cover over (or protect) them; and in thee, in thy presence and thy favour,
shall exult, or triumph, (the) lovers of thy name, i. e. of thy manifested
excellence, which is the usual sense of this expression in the Old Testament.
The believers and lovers of God's name, here spoken of, are not merely
friends of the psalmist who rejoice in his deliverance, but the great congregation of God's people, to which he belonged, and of which he was the
representative, so that his deliverance was theirs, and a rational occasion
of their joy, not only on his account but on their own.
13 (12). The confident hope expressed in the foregoing verse was not a
groundless or capricious one, but founded on the nature of God and the
uniform tenor of his dispensations. The psalmist knows what God will
do in this case, because he knows what he does and will do still in general.
For thou wilt bless, and art wont to bless, the righteous, the opposite of those
described in ver. 5-7 (4-6) and 10, 11 (9, 10), O Lord, Jehovah! Like
the shield, as the shield protects the soldier (so with) favour thou wilt surround him, or enclose him, still referring to the righteous; see the same
comparison in Ps. iii. 4 (3.) The confident assertion that God will do so,
implies that he has done so, and is wont to do so, to the righteous as a
class. And this affords a reasonable ground for the belief, expressed in the
preceding verse, that he will do so also in the present case.
PSALM VI.
THE psalmist prays for the removal of God's chastisements, ver. 2 (1),
because they have already brought him very low, ver. 3, 4 (2, 3), because
the divine glory will be promoted by his rescue, ver. 5 (4), and obscured
by his destruction, ver. 6 (5), and because, unless speedily relieved, he can
no longer bear up under his sufferings, ver. 7, 8 (6, 7). He is nevertheless sure of the divine compassion, ver. 9 (8). His prayer is heard and
will be answered, ver. 10 (9), in the defeat and disappointment of his enemies, by whose malignant opposition his distress was caused, ver. 11 (10).
This reference to his enemies constitutes the link of connection between
this psalm and the foregoing series, and maintains the contrast, running
through that series, between two great classes of mankind, the righteous
and the wicked, the subjects of Messiah and the rebels against him, the
friends and foes of the theocracy, the friends and foes of David, as an individual, a sovereign, and a type of the Messiah. At the same time, this
psalm differs wholly from the others in its tone of querulous but humble
grief, which has caused it to be reckoned as the first of the Penitential
psalms. This tone is suddenly exchanged, in ver. 9 (8), for one of confident assurance, perfectly in keeping with what goes before, and true to
nature.
1. For the Chief Musician, (to be sung) with stringed instruments upon
the eighth. This last word corresponds exactly to our octave; but its precise application in the ancient music we have now no means of ascertaining.
An instrument of eight strings, which some suppose to be the sense, could
hardly be described by the ordinal number eighth. We probably lose little
by our incapacity to understand these technical expressions, while, at the
same time, their very obscurity may serve to confirm our faith in their
antiquity and genuineness, as parts of the original composition. This
VER. 1-5.]
PSALM VI.
31
psalm, like the three which immediately precede it, describes itself as a
psalm of (or by) David, belonging to David, as its author. The correctness of this statement there is as little reason to dispute in this as in either
of the other cases.
2 (1). O Lord, Jehovah, do not in thine anger rebuke me, and do not in
thy heat, or hot displeasure, chasten me. Both the original verbs properly
denote the conviction and reproof of an offender in words, but are here, as
often elsewhere, applied to providential chastisements, in which God speaks
with a reproving voice. This is not a prayer for the mitigation of the
punishment, like that in Jer. x. 24, but for its removal, as appears from
the account of the answer in ver. 9-11 (8-10). Such a petition, while it
indicates a strong faith, at the same time recognises the connection between
suffering and sin. In the very act of asking for relief, the psalmist owns
that he is justly punished. This may serve to teach us how far the confident tone of the preceding psalms is from betraying a self-righteous spirit,
or excluding the consciousness of personal unworthiness and ill-desert.
The boldness there displayed is not that of self-reliance, but of faith.
3 (2). Have mercy upon me, or be gracious unto me, O Lord, Jehovah,
for drooping, languishing, am I. The original construction is, for I am
(one who) droops or withers, like a blighted plant. Like a child complaining to a parent, he describes the greatness of his suffering as a reason for
relieving him. Heal me, O Lord, Jehovah, for shaken, agitated with distress and terror, are my bones, here mentioned as the strength and framework of the body. This might seem to indicate corporeal disease as the
whole from which he prays to be delivered. But the absence of any such
allusion in the latter part of the psalm, and the explicit mention there of
enemies as the occasion of his sufferings, shows that the pain of body here
described was that arising from distress of mind, and which could only be
relieved by the removal of the cause. To regard the bodily distress as a
mere figure for internal anguish, would be wholly arbitrary and destructive
of all sure interpretation. The physical effect here ascribed to moral causes
is entirely natural and confirmed by all experience.
4 (3). The Psalmist himself guards against the error of supposing that
his worst distresses were corporeal. And my soul, as well as my body, or
more than my body, which merely sympathizes with it, is greatly agitated,
terror-stricken, the same word that was applied to the bones in the preceding verse. The description of his suffering is then interrupted by another
apostrophe to God. And thou, O Lord, Jehovah, until when, how long?
The sentence is left to be completed by the reader: how long wilt thou
leave me thus to suffer? how long before thou wilt appear for my deliverance? This question, in its Latin form, Domine quousque, was Calvin's
favourite ejaculation in his times of suffering, and especially of painful sickness.
5 (4). The expostulatory question is now followed by direct petition.
Return, O Lord, Jehovah, deliver my soul, my life, my self, from this impending death. As God seems to be absent when his people suffer, so
relief is constantly described as his return to them. (Oh) save me, a still
more comprehensive term than that used in the first clause, for the sake of
thy mercy, not merely according to it, as a rule or measure, but to vindicate
it from reproach, and do it honour, as a worthy end to be desired and
accomplished.
6 (5). As a further reason for his rescue, he now urges that without it
God will lose the honour, and himself the happiness, of his praises and
32
PSALM VI.
[VER. 6-9.
thanksgivings. For there is not in death; or the state of the dead, thy
remembrance, any remembrance of thee. In Sheol, the grave, as a general
receptacle, here parallel to death, and, like it, meaning the unseen world or
state of the dead, who will acknowledge, or give thanks, to thee? The Hebrew
verb denotes that kind of praise called forth by the experience of goodness.
The question in the last clause is equivalent to the negative proposition in
the first. This verse does not prove that David had no belief or expectation of a future state, nor that the intermediate state is an unconscious one,
but only that in this emergency he looks no further than the close of life,
as the appointed term of thanksgiving and praise. Whatever might eventually follow, it was certain that his death would put an end to the praise
of God, in that form and those circumstances to which he had been accustomed. See below, on Ps. xxx. 10 (9); lxxxviii. 11-13 (10-12), cxv. 17,
18, and compare Isa. xxxviii. 18. So far is the argument here urged from
being weakened by our clearer knowledge of the future state, that it is greatly
strengthened by the substitution of the second or eternal death.
7 (6). I am weary in (or of) my groaning, I have become wearied with
it, and unless I am relieved, I shall (still as hitherto) make my bed swim
every night, my couch with tears I shall dissolve, or make to flow. The
uniform translation of the verbs as presents does not bring out their full
meaning, or express the idea, suggested in the Hebrew by the change of
tense, that the grief which had already become wearisome must still continue without mitigation, unless God should interpose for his deliverance.
Thus understood, the verse is not a mere description, but a disguised prayer.
8 (7). Mine eye has failed, grown dim, a common symptom both of mental and bodily distress, from vexation, not mere grief, but grief mixed with
indignation at my enemies. It has grown old, dim like the eye of an old
man, a still stronger expression of the same idea, in (the midst of) all my
enemies, or in (consequence of) all my enemies, i. e. of their vexatious conduct. Compare Ps. xxxi. 10 (9). In these two verses he resumes the
description of his own distress, in order to shew that the argument in ver.
6 (5) was appropriate to his case, as that of one drawing near to death,
and therefore likely soon to lose the capacity and opportunity of praising God.
9 (8). Here the key abruptly changes from the tone of sorrowful complaint to that of joyful confidence. No gradual transition could have so
successfully conveyed the idea that the prayer of the psalmist has been
heard, and will be answered. The effect is like that of a whisper in the
sufferer's ear, while still engrossed with his distresses, to assure him that
they are about to terminate. This he announces by a direct and bold
address to his persecuting enemies. Depart from me, all ye doers of iniquity, the same phrase that occurs in Ps. v. 6 (5). The sense is not that
he will testify his gratitude by abjuring all communion with the wicked,
but that his assurance of divine protection relieves him from all fear of his
wicked foes. When God arises, then his enemies are scattered. This
sense is required by the last clause of ver. 8 (7), and confirmed by a comparison with ver. 11 (10), For the Lord, Jehovah, hath heard the voice of
my weeping, or my weeping voice. The infrequency of silent grief is said
to be characteristic of the orientals, and the same thing may be observed
in Homer's pictures of heroic manners.
10 (9). Jehovah hath heard my supplication. The assurance of this fact
relieves all fear as to the future. Jehovah my prayer will receive. The
change of tense is not unmeaning or fortuitous. The combination of the
VER. 10.]
PSALM VI.
33
past and future represents the acceptance as complete and final, as already
begun, and certain to continue. The particular petition thus accepted is
the one expressed or implied in the next verse.
11 (10). Ashamed and confounded, i. e. disappointed and struck with
terror, shall be all my enemies. The desire that they may be is not expressed,
but involved in the confident anticipation that they will be. In the second
verb there is an obvious allusion to its use in ver. 3, 4 (2, 3). As he had
been terror-stricken, so shall they be. As they filled him with consternation, so shall God fill them. They shall return, turn back from their assault
repulsed; they shall be ashamed, filled with shame at their defeat; and that
not hereafter, (in) a moment, instantaneously.
PSALM VII.
THE Psalmist still prays for deliverance from his enemies, ver. 2, 3 (1, 2),
on the ground that he is innocent of that wherewith they charge him, ver.
4-6 (3-5). He prays for justice to himself and on his enemies, as a part of
that great judicial process which belongs to God as the universal judge, ver.
7-10 (6-9). He trusts in the divine discrimination between innocence and
guilt, ver. 11, 12 (10, 11). He anticipates God's vengeance on impenitent offenders, ver. 13, 14 (12, 13). He sees them forced to act as selfdestroyers, ver. 15-17 (14-16). At the same time he rejoices in God's
mercy to himself, and to the whole class whom he represents, ver. 18 (17).
The penitential tone, which predominated in the sixth psalm, here gives
way again to that of self-justification, perhaps because the Psalmist here
speaks no longer as an individual, but as the representative of the righteous
or God's people. The two views which he thus takes of himself are perfectly consistent, and should be suffered to interpret one another.
1. Shiggaion, i. e. wandering, error. The noun occurs only here, and
in the plural form, Hab. iii. 1, but the verb from which it is derived is not
uncommon, and is applied by Saul to his own errors with respect to
David (1 Sam. xxvi. 21). See also Ps. cxix. 10, 118. Hence some explain the word here as denoting moral error, sin, and make it descriptive
of the subject of the psalm. See above on Ps. v. 1. Still more in accordance with the literal meaning of the root is the opinion that it here denotes
the wandering of David at the period when the psalm was probably conceived. In either case, it means a song of wandering or error, which he
sang, in the literal sense, or in the secondary one of poetical composition,
as Virgil says, I sing the man and arms, i. e. they are the subject of my
poem. To the Lord, Jehovah, to whom a large part of the psalm is really
addressed. Concerning (or because of) the words of Cush the Benjamite. It
is clear from ver. 4-6 (3-5), that the words referred to were calumnious
reports or accusations. These may have been uttered by one Cush, a Benjamite, who nowhere else appears in history. But as this very circumstance makes it improbable that he would have been singled out, as the
occasion of this psalm, from among so many slanderers, some suppose
Cush to be Shimei, who cursed David when he fled from Absalom (2 Sam.
xvi. 5-13). As the psalm, however, seems much better suited to the times
of Saul, some suppose Cush, which is properly the Hebrew name of Ethiopia, to be here an enigmatical name applied to Saul himself, in reference
to the blackness of his heart, and perhaps to his incorrigible wickedness.
See Jer. xiii. 23, and Amos ix. 7. The description Benjamite, is equally
3
34
PSALM VII.
[VER. 1-5.
appropriate to Saul (1 Sam. ix. 1, 2; 5, 11) and Shimei, who, indeed,
were kinsmen. This explanation of the word Cush is less forced than it
might otherwise appear, because enigmatical descriptions of the theme are
not unfrequent in the titles of the Psalms. See above, on Ps. v. 1, and
below, on Ps. ix. 1; xxii. 1; liii. 1; lvii. 1; lx. 1.
2 (1). The psalm opens with an expression of strong confidence in God,
and a prayer founded on it. O Lord, Jehovah, my God, not merely
by creation, but by special covenant, in thee, as such, and therefore in
no other, I have trusted, and do still trust. This relation and this trust
entitle him to audience and deliverance. Save me from all my persecutors, or pursuers, a term frequently employed in David's history. See
1 Sam. xxiv. 15 (14); xxvi. 20. By these we are here to understand the
whole class of worldly and ungodly men, of which Saul was the type and
representative. The all suggests the urgency of the necessity, as a motive
to immediate interposition. And extricate me, or deliver me. The primary idea of the
verb translated save is that of making room, enlarging. See above, on Ps. iv. 2 (1).
3 (2). Lest he tear, like a lion, my soul. The singular form, following
the plural in the foregoing verse, may have particular reference to Saul, or
to the class of which he was a type, personified as an ideal individual. The
imagery of the verse is borrowed from the habits of wild beasts, with which
David was familiar from a child. See 1 Sam. xvii. 34-37. The soul or
life is mentioned as the real object of attack, and not as a mere periphrasis
for the personal pronoun, as if my soul were equivalent to me. Rending,
or breaking the bones, and there is none delivering, or with none to deliver.
4 (3.) He proceeds upon the principle that God will not hear the prayer
of the wicked, and that he must hear that of the righteous. He proceeds,
therefore, to assert his innocence, not his freedom from all sin, but from
that particular offence with which he had been charged. O Lord, Jehovah, my God, as in ver. 2 (1), if I have done this, which follows, or this of
which I am accused, referring to "the words of Cush," the calumnies,
which gave occasion to the psalm itself. If there is, with emphasis on the
verb, which might have been omitted in Hebrew, and is therefore emphatic, if there is indeed, as my accusers say, perverseness, iniquity, in my
palms, in the palms of my hands, here mentioned as instruments of evil.
The apodosis of the sentence is contained in ver. 6 (5) below.
5 (4). If I have repaid my friend, one at peace with me, evil, and spoiled,
plundered, (one) distressing me, acting as my enemy, without a cause. There
seems to be an allusion here to the two periods of David's connection with
Saul, that of their friendly intercourse, and that of their open enmity.
During neither of these had David been guilty of the sins charged upon
him. He had not conspired against Saul while in his service (1 Sam. xxii.
7, 8), and when persecuted by him he had spared his life (1 Sam. xxiv. 10,
11). Some suppose this last fact to be here referred to, and translate the
second clause, yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy.
The Hebrew verb is certainly used elsewhere in this sense (2 Sam. xxii. 20,
Ps. vi. 5), but its primary meaning seems to be that of stripping or spoiling a conquered enemy. The first construction above given is moreover
much more natural, and agrees better with the grammatical dependence of
the second verb upon the first.
6 (5). His consciousness of innocence is expressed in the strongest man
ner by invoking the divine displeasure if the charge can be established. An
enemy, or by poetic licence, the enemy, whether Saul or the ideal enemy
VER. 6-8.]
PSALM VII.
35
referred to in verse 3 (2), shall pursue, or may pursue, which is equivalent
to saying, Let the enemy pursue my soul, the figure being still the same as in
verse 3 (2) above, but carried out with more minuteness, and overtake (it),
and trample to the earth my life, and my honour in the dust make dwell, i. e.
completely prostrate and degrade. Some regard honour as equivalent to
soul and life, the intelligent and vital part, which is the glory of man's constitution. But the analogy of Ps. iii. 4 (3) and iv. 3 (2) makes it more
probable that in this case also there is reference to the Psalmist's personal
and official honour. The allusion, however, is not so much to posthumous
disgrace as to present humiliation. All this he imprecates upon himself if
really guilty of the charges calumniously brought against him. The solemnity of this
appeal to God, as a witness and a judge, is enhanced by the usual pause. Selah.
7 (6). Upon this protestation of his innocence he founds a fresh prayer
for protection and deliverance. Arise, arouse thyself, O Lord, Jehovah.
See above, on Ps. iii. 8 (7). Arise in thine anger, raise thyself, or be exalted,
in, i. e. amidst, the ragings of my enemies. The idea because of my enemies is
rather implied than expressed. The sense directly intended seems to be
that, as his enemies are raging, it is time for God to arise in anger too. As
they rage against him, he calls upon God to rise in anger against them.
And awake, a still stronger figure than arise, because implying sleep as well
as inactivity. Awake unto me, at my call and for my benefit. Judgment
hast thou commanded, or ordained. Let that judgment now be executed.
He appeals to the general administration of God's justice, as a ground for
expecting it in this one case. As it was part of the divine plan or purpose to do justice, both on friends and foes, here was an opportunity to
put it into execution.
8 (7). And the congregation of nations shall surround thee, which in this
connection is equivalent to saying, let it surround thee. The most probable
sense of these obscure words is, appear in the midst of the nations as their
judge. The same connection between God's judicial government in general
and his judicial acts in a particular case, that is implied in the preceding
verse, is here embodied in the figure of an oriental king dispensing justice
to his subjects in a popular assembly. And above it, the assembly, to the
high place, or the height, return thou. This may either mean, return to
heaven when the judgment is concluded, or, which seems more natural,
Resume thy seat as judge above this great ideal congregation. Above it,
thus assembled to receive thee, to the high place, or the judgment-seat, return thou, after so long an absence, previously intimated by the summons to
arise and awake. Inaction, sleep, and absence from the judgment-seat, are all
bold metaphors for God's delay to save his people and destroy their enemies.
9 (8). The same thing is now expressed in a direct and formal manner.
Jehovah will judge, is to judge, the nations. This is laid down as a certain
general proposition, from which the Psalmist draws a special inference in
the shape of a petition. Judge me, O Lord, Jehovah! If it be true that
God will judge the world, redress all wrong, and punish all iniquity, let him
begin with me. Let me share now in the justice which is to be universally
administered. Judge me, O Lord, according to my right, and my completeness, or perfection, over me, i. e. according to my innocence which covers and
protects me. All such expressions must be qualified and explained by the
confession of unworthiness in Ps. vi. and elsewhere, which sufficiently demonstrates that the Psalmist here makes no claim to absolute perfection and
innocence, nor to any whatever that is independent of God's sovereign mercy.
36
PSALM VII.
[VER. 9-13.
10 (9). Let cease, I pray, the badness of wicked (men). The future has
an optative meaning given to it by the Hebrew particle (xnA), which is often
rendered now, not as an adverb of time, but of entreaty. Between man and.
man, it is frequently equivalent to if you please in modern parlance. When
addressed to God, it scarcely admits of any other version than I pray. The
assonance or paronomasia in the common version, wickedness of the wicked,
is not found in the original, where two words, not akin to one another,
are employed. The plural form of wicked is also lost or left ambiguous in
the common version. And thou wilt confirm, or establish, a righteous (man),
and a trier of hearts and reins, constantly used in Scripture for the internal
dispositions, (is the) righteous God, or (art thou) O righteous God, which
last agrees best with the direct address to God in the preceding clauses.
This does not merely mean that God is omniscient, and therefore able thus
to try the hearts and reins, but that he actually does it. Here he is specially appealed to, as a judge or umpire between Saul, or "the wicked" whom
he represented, and "the righteous," of whom David was the type and champion.
11 (10). My shield (is) upon God. My protection or defence depends
on him alone. The figure is the same as in Ps. iii. 4 (3) and v. 13 (12).
Here again the hope of personal deliverance is founded on a general truth,
as to the course of the divine administration. My shield (is) upon God, saving, or who saves, the Saviour of the upright, straightforward, or sincere in
heart. This is a new indirect assertion of his own integrity and innocence.
12 (11). The second word in the original of this verse may be either a
participle or a noun, so that the clause admits of two translations, God (is)
a righteous judge, and, God is judging, i. e. judges, the righteous. The first
would be a repetition of the general truth taught in ver. 9 (8) above, but
here applied to the punishment of the wicked, as it is there to the salvation
of the innocent. According to the other construction, the verse before us
presents both ideas: God judges the righteous, i. e. does him justice, and
God is angry every day. The object of this anger, although not expressed,
is obvious, and is even rendered more conspicuous by this omission. As if
he had said, "God, who does justice to the righteous, has likewise objects
for his indignation."
13 (12). If he, the sinner at whom God is angry, will not turn, i. e.
turn back from his impious and rebellious undertakings, his sword he will
whet, i. e. with a natural though sudden change of subject, God will whet
his sword, often referred to as an instrument of vengeance. His bow he has
trodden on, alluding to the ancient mode of bending the large and heavy
bows used in battle, and made it ready. The bow and the sword were the
most common weapons used in ancient warfare. The past tense of these
verbs implies that the instruments of vengeance are prepared already, and
not merely viewed as something future.
14 (13). And at him (the wicked enemy) he has aimed, or directed, the
instruments of death, his deadly weapons. This is still another step in
advance. The weapons are not only ready for him, but aimed at him.
His arrows to (be) burning he will make, i. e. he will make his arrows
burning arrows, in allusion to the ancient military custom of shooting
ignited darts or arrows into besieged towns, for the purpose of setting them
on fire, as well as that of personal injury. The figurative terms in these
two verses all express the certainty and promptness of the divine judgments
on incorrigible sinners. For even these denunciations are not absolute,
VER. 14-17.]
PSALM VII.
37
but suspended on the enemy's repentance or persistency in evil. That
significant phrase, if he will not turn, may be tacitly supplied as qualifying
every threatening in the book, however strong and unconditional in its expressions.
15 (14). Behold, he, the wicked man, will writhe, or travail (with)
iniquity, (towards others), and conceive mischief (to himself), and bring
forth falsehood, self-deception, disappointment. The meaning seems to be,
that while bringing his malignant schemes to maturity, he will unconsciously conceive and bring forth ruin to himself.
16 (15) The same idea is then expressed by other figures, borrowed
perhaps from certain ancient modes of hunting. A well he has digged,
i. e. a pitfall for his enemy, and hollowed it, or made it deep, and fallen
into the pit he is making, or about to make. The change from the past
tense to the future seems to place the catastrophe between the inception
and completion of the plan. The translation of the last verb as a simple
preterite is entirely ungrammatical.
17 (16). Still a third variation of the same theme. His mischief shall
return upon his own head, literally into it, like a falling body which not
only rests upon an object, but sinks and is imbedded in it. And on his own
crown his violence, including the ideas of injustice and cruelty, shall come
down.
18 (17). While the wicked enemy of God and his people is thus made
to execute the sentence on himself, the Psalmist already exults in the experience of God's saving mercy. I will praise the Lord, Jehovah, i. e.
acknowledge his favours. See above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5). According to his
right, desert, or due, as in ver. 9 (8) above. Or according to his righteousness, his justice, i. e. the praise shall correspond to the display just made
of this attribute, as well in the deliverance of the Psalmist as in the destruction of his enemies. And I will sing praise, praise by singing, praise
in song, the name, the manifested excellence (see above, on Ps. v. 12 (11),)
of the Lord, Jehovah, High or Most High. He will praise the Lord in this
exalted character as manifested by his dealings in the case which gave
occasion to the psalm. The resolution thus expressed may be considered
as fulfilled in the psalm itself, so confident is he that it cannot be performed
before his prayer is answered. Or the words may be understood as engaging to continue these acknowledgments hereafter.
PSALM VIII.
THIS psalm begins and ends with an admiring recognition of God's manifested excellence, ver. 2 (1) and 10 (9). In the intermediate verses the
manifestation is traced, first in the inanimate creation, ver. 3, 4 (2, 3,
and then in animated nature, vers. 5-9 (4-8), with particular reference
to man's superiority. This is indeed the main subject of the psalm, the
glory of God in nature being only introduced to heighten his goodness to
mankind. We have here, therefore, a description of the dignity of human
nature, as it was at first, and as it is to be restored in Christ, to whom the
descriptive terms may therefore be applied, without forced or fanciful
accommodation on the one hand, and without denying the primary generic
import of the composition on the other.
1. To the Chief Musician, on (or according to) the Gittith. This word,
which reappears in the titles of two other psalms (the eighty-first and
38
PSALM VII].
[VER. 1, 2.
eighty-fourth), would seem, from its form, to be the feminine of Gitti,
which always means a Gittite or inhabitant of Gath. See Josh. xiii. 3;
2 Sam. vi. 10, xv. 18. As David once resided there, and had afterwards
much intercourse with the inhabitants, the word may naturally here denote
an instrument there invented or in use, or an air, or a style of performance,
borrowed from that city. Some prefer, however, to derive it from the
primary sense of Gath in Hebrew, which is wine-press, and apply it either
to an instrument of that shape, or to a melody or style which usage had
connected with the joy of vintage or the pressing of the grapes. Either of
these explanations is more probable than that which derives Gittith from
the same root with Neginoth in the titles of Ps. iv. and vi., and gives it
the same sense, viz. stringed instruments, or the music of stringed instruments. Besides the dubious etymology on which this explanation rests, it
is improbable that two such technical terms would have been used to
signify precisely the same thing. The only further observation to be made
upon this title is, that all the psalms to which it is prefixed are of a joyous
character, which agrees well with the supposition that it signifies an air or
style of musical performance. The ascription of this Psalm to David, as
its author, is fully confirmed by its internal character.
2 (1). Jehovah, our Lord, not of the Psalmist only, but of all men, and
especially all Israel, how glorious (is) thy name, thy manifested excellence
(see above, Ps. v. 11, vii. 17), in all the earth, which gave thy glory, i. e.
which glory of thine give or place, above the heavens. The verbal form here
used is, in every other place where it occurs, an imperative, and should not
therefore, without necessity, be otherwise translated. Thus understood,
the clause contains a prayer or wish, that the divine glory may be made
still more conspicuous. To give or place glory on an object is an idiomatic
phrase repeatedly used elsewhere, to denote the conferring of honour on an inferior. See Num. xxvii. 20; 1 Chron. xxix. 25; Dan. xi. 21. It here implies
that the glory belonging to the frame of nature is not inherent but derivative.
3 (2.) From the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast founded strength.
The instinctive admiration of thy works, even by the youngest children, is
a strong defence against those who would question thy being or obscure
thy glory. The Septuagint version of the last words in this clause, thou
hast prepared (or provided) praise, conveys the same idea with a change of
form, since it is really the praise or admiration of the child that is described in the original as strength. This version is adopted by Matthew,
in his record of our Lord's reply to the Pharisees, when they complained of
the hosannas uttered by the children in the temple (Mat. xxi. 16). That
allusion does not prove that Christ was the primary subject of this psalm,
but only that the truth expressed in the words quoted was exemplified in
that case. If the Scriptures had already taught that even the unconscious
admiration of the infant is a tribute to God's glory, how much more might
children of maturer age be suffered to join in acclamations to his Son. The
sense thus put upon the words of David agrees better with the context than
the one preferred by some interpreters, viz., that the defence in question is
afforded by the structure and progress of the child itself. If this had been
intended, he would hardly have said from the mouth, or have confined his subsequent
allusions to the splendour of the firmament.—The effect, or rather the legitimate
tendency of this spontaneous testimony is to silence enemy and avenger, i. e. to stop the
mouths of all malignant railers against God, whose cavils and sophisms are put to shame
by the instinctive recognition of God's being and his glory by the youngest children.
VER. 3-6.]
PSALM VIII.
39
4 (3). When I see thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, an expression
borrowed from the habits of men, to whom the fingers are natural organs of
contrivance and construction, the moon and the stars which thou hast fixed,
or settled in their several spheres. As we constantly associate the sky
and sun together, the latter, although not expressly mentioned, may be
considered as included in the subject of the first clause. Or the mention
of the moon and stars without the sun may be understood to mark this as
an evening hymn. There is no ground, however, for referring this psalm to the pastoral
period of David's life, or for doubting that it was composed when he was king.
5 (4). The sentence begun in the preceding verse is here completed.
When I see thy heavens, &c., what is man, frail man, as the original word
signifies, that thou shouldst remember him, think of him, attend to him, and
(any) son of man, or the son of man, as a generic designation of the race,
that thou shouldst visit him, i. e. according to the usage of this figure,
manifest thyself to him, either in wrath or mercy. See Gen. xviii. 14,
xxi. 1, Ruth i. 6, &c. Here of course the latter is intended. The
scriptural idea of a divine visitation is of something which reveals God's
special presence and activity, whether as a friend or foe. The interrogation
in this verse implies a strong negation of man's worthiness to be thus
honoured, not in comparison with the material universe, to which he is in
truth superior, but with the God whose glory the whole frame of nature was
intended to display and does display, even to the least matured and cultivated minds. It was with a view to this comparison, and not for its own
sake, or as the main subject of the psalm, that the glory of creation was
referred to the foregoing verse.
6 (5). And remove him little from divinity, i. e. from a divine and
heavenly, or at least a superhuman state. The Hebrew noun is the common one for God, but being plural in its form, is sometimes used in a more
vague and abstract sense, for all conditions of existence higher than our
own. 1 Sam. xxviii. 13, Zech. ix. 7. Hence it is sometimes rendered
angels in the Septuagint, which version, although inexact, is retained in
the New Testament (Heb. ii. 7), because it sufficiently expresses the idea
which was essential to the writer's argument. The verb in this clause
strictly means to make or let one want, to leave deficient. Eccles. iv. 8,
vi. 2. The form here used (that of the future with vav conversive), connects it in the closest manner with the verb of the preceding verse, a construction which may be imperfectly conveyed by the omission of the
auxiliary verbs in English. "What is man, that thou shouldst remember
him, and visit him, and make him want but little of divinity, and crown
him with honour and glory?" The Hebrew order of the last clause is,
and (with) honour and glory crown him. These nouns are elsewhere put
together to express royal dignity. Ps. xxi. 1, 6 (5), xlv. 4 (3), Jer.
xxii. 18, 1 Chron. xxix. 25. There is an obvious allusion to man's being
made in the image of God, with dominion over the inferior creation. Gen.
i. 26, 28; ix. 2. This is predicated not of the individual but of the race,
which lost its perfection in Adam and recovers it in Christ. Hence the
description is pre-eminently true of him, and the application of the words
in Heb. ii. 7, is entirely legitimate, although it does not make him the
exclusive subject of the psalm itself.
7 (6). The same construction is continued through the first clause of
this verse. Make him rule, i. e. what is man that thou shouldst make
him rule, in, among, and by implication over, the works, the other and
40
PSALM
VIII.
[VER. 7-9.
inferior creatures, of thy hands. The use of the future form in Hebrew up
to this point is dependent on the question and contingent particle (what is
man that) in ver. 5 (4). The question being now exhausted or exchanged
for a direct affirmation, the past tense is resumed. All, everything, hast
thou put under his feet, i. e. subjected to his power. The application of
these terms to Christ (1 Cor. xv. 27, Eph. i. 22), as the ideal representative
of human nature in its restored perfection, is precisely similar to that of
the expressions used in the preceding verse.
8 (7). This verse contains a mere specification of the general term all
in the verse before it. Sheep, or rather flocks, including sheep and goats, and
oxen, as a generic term for larger cattle, and also, not only these domesticated animals, but also, beasts of the field, which always means in Scripture
wild beasts (Gen. ii. 20, iii. 14, 1 Sam. xvii. 44, Joel i. 20), field being
used in such connections to denote, not the cultivated land, but the open,
unenclosed, and wilder portions of the country. The whole verse is a
general description of all quadrupeds or beasts, whether tame or wild.
9 (8). To complete the cycle of animated nature, the inhabitants of the
air and water are now added to those of the earth. Bird of heaven, a
collective phrase, denoting the birds of the sky, i. e. those which fly across
the visible heavens. The common version, "fowl of the air," is descriptive
of the same objects, but is not a strict translation. And fishes of the sea,
and (every thing) passing in, or through, the paths of the sea. Some read
without supplying anything, fishes of the sea passing through the paths of the
sea. But this weakens the expression, and is also at variance with the
form of the original, where passing is a singular. Others construe it with
man, who is then described as passing over the sea and ruling its inhabitants. But neither the syntax nor the sense is, on the whole, so natural
as that proposed above, which makes this a residuary comprehensive clause,
intended to embrace whatever might not be included in the more specific
terms by which it is preceded. The dominion thus ascribed to man, as a
part of his original prerogative, is not to be confounded with the coercive
rule which he still exercises over the inferior creation (Gen. ix. 2, James
iii. 7), although this is really a relic of his pristine state, and at the same
time an earnest of his future restoration.
10 (9). Jehovah, our Lord, how glorious is thy name in all the earth, not
only made so by the splendour of the skies, but by God's condescending
goodness to mankind. With this new evidence and clearer view of the
divine perfection, the Psalmist here comes back to the point from which he
started, and closes with a solemn repetition of the theme propounded in the
opening sentence.
PSALM IX.
THIS psalm expresses, in a series of natural and striking alternations,
gratitude for past deliverances, trust in God's power and disposition to
repeat them, and direct and earnest prayer for such repetition. We have
first the acknowledgment of former mercies, ver. 2-7 (1-6); then the
expression of trust for the future, ver. 8-13 (7-12); then the petition
founded on it, ver. 14, 15 (13, 14). The same succession of ideas is
repeated: recollection of the past, ver. 16, 17 (15, 16); anticipation of
the future, ver. 18, 19 (17, 18); prayer for present and immediate help,
ver. 20, 21 (19, 20). This parallelism of the parts makes the structure of
VER. 1-3.]
PSALM IX.
41
the psalm remarkably like that of the seventh. The composition was intentionally so framed as to be a vehicle of pious feeling to the church at any
period of strife and persecution. The form is that of the Old Testament;
but the substance and the spirit are common to both dispensations.
1. To the Chief Musician, Al-muth-labben. This enigmatical title has
been variously explained. Some understand it as descriptive of the subject, and make labben an anagram of Nabol, the name of one of David's
enemies, and, at the same time, an appellative denoting fool, in which sense
it is frequently applied to the wicked; see, for example, Ps. xiv. 1. The
whole would then mean on the death of the fool, i. e. the sinner. Such
enigmatical changes are supposed to occur in Jer. xxv. 26, li. 1, 41; Zech.
ix. 1. Others, by a change of pointing in the Hebrew, for al-muth read
alamoth, a musical term occurring in the title of Ps. xlvi., or a cognate
form almuth, and explain labben to mean for Ben, or the (children of) Ben,
one of the Levitical singers mentioned in 1 Chron. xv. 18. Neither of
these explanations seem so natural as a third, which supposes muth-labben
to be the title, or the first words, or a prominent expression of some other
poem, in the style, or to the air of which, this psalm was composed. After
the manner, or to the air, of (the song or poem) Death to the son, or the
death of the son. Compare 2 Sam. i. 18, where David's elegy on Saul
appears to be called Kesheth or the Bow, because that word is a prominent
expression in the composition. As it cannot be supposed that the expression was originally without meaning, the obscurity, in this and many
similar cases, is rather a proof of antiquity than of the opposite.
2 (1). I will thank Jehovah, praise him for his benefits, with all my
heart, sincerely, cordially, and with a just appreciation of the greatness of
his favours. I will recount all thy wonders, the wonderful things done by
thee, with special reference to those attested by his own experience. The
change from the third to the second person is entirely natural, as if the
Psalmist's warmth of feeling would not suffer him to speak any longer
merely of God, as one absent, but compelled him to turn to him, as the
immediate object of address. There is no need, therefore, of supplying
thee in the first clause, and construing Jehovah as a vocative.
3 (2). I will joy and triumph in thee, not merely in thy presence, or
because of thee, i. e. because of what thou hast done, but in communion
with thee, and because of my personal interest in thee. The form of the
verbs, both here and in the last clause of the preceding verse, expresses
strong desire and fixed determination; see above, on Ps. ii. 3. I will
praise, or celebrate in song; see above, on Ps. vii. 18 (17). Thy name,
thy manifested excellence; see above, on Ps. v. 12 (11). (Thou) Highest, or Most High!
see above, on Ps. vii. 18 (17). Here again there is special reference to the proofs of God's
supremacy afforded by his recent dealings with the Psalmist and his enemies.
4 (3). In the turning of my enemies back, i. e. from their assault on me,
which is equivalent to saying, in their retreat, their defeat, their disappointment. This may either be connected with what goes before, and understood
as a statement of the reason or occasion of the praise there promised: "I
will celebrate thy name when (or because) my enemies turn back;" or
it may begin a new sentence, and ascribe their defeat to the agency of
God himself: "When my enemies turn back (it is because) they are to
stumble, and perish from thy presence, from before thee, or at thy presence,
i. e. as soon as thou appearest." The Hebrew preposition has both a causative and local meaning. The form of the verbs does not necessarily imply
42
PSALM IX.
[VER. 4-6.
that the deliverance acknowledged was still future, but only that it might
occur again, and that in any such case, whether past or yet to come,
Jehovah was and would be the true author of the victory achieved. The
act of stumbling implies that of falling as its natural consequence, and is
often used in Scripture as a figure for complete and ruinous failure.
5 (4). This was not a matter of precarious expectation, but of certain
experience. For thou hast made, done, executed, wrought out, and thereby
maintained, my cause and my right. This phrase is always used elsewhere
in a favourable sense, and never in the vague one of simply doing justice,
whether to the innocent or guilty. See Deut. x. 18; 1 Kings viii. 45, 49;
Ps. cxl. 12; and compare Isa. x. 2. And this defence was not merely that
of an advocate, but that of a judge, or rather of a sovereign in the exercise
of those judicial functions which belong to royalty. See Prov. xx. 8. Thou
hast sat, and sittest, on a throne, the throne of universal sovereignty, judging right,
i. e. rightly, or a judge of righteousness, a righteous judge. See above, on Ps. vii.
12 (11). In this august character the Psalmist had already seen Jehovah, and he
therefore gives it as a reason for expecting him to act in accordance with it now.
6 (5). The forensic terms of the preceding verse are now explained as
denoting the destruction of God's enemies. Thou hast rebuked nations,
not merely individuals, but nations. God's chastisements are often called
rebukes, because in them he speaks by act as clearly as he could by word.
Thou hast destroyed a wicked (one), i. e. many a wicked enemy, in former
times, in other cases, and that not with a partial ruin, but with complete
extermination even of their memory. Their name, that by which men are
distinguished and remembered, thou hast blotted out, erased, effaced, obliterated, to perpetuity and eternity, an idiomatic combination, coincident in
sense, though not in form, with the English phrase, for ever and ever. This
verse does not refer exclusively to any one manifestation of God's power
and wrath, but to the general course of his dealings with his enemies, and
especially to their invariable issue, the destruction of the adverse party.
7 (6). The enemy, or as to the enemy, a nominative absolute placed at the
beginning of the sentence for the sake of emphasis—finished, completed,
are (his) ruins, desolations, for ever; i. e. he is ruined or made desolate
for ever. The construction of the first word as a vocative— O enemy, ended
are (thy) desolations for ever, i. e. the desolations caused by thee—affords a
good sense, but is neither so agreeable to usage nor to the context as the
one first given. Still less so are the other versions which have been given
of this difficult clause. E. g. The enemies are completely desolate for ever;
—the enemies are consumed, (there are) ruins (or desolations) for ever, &c.
The address is still to Jehovah, as in the preceding verse. And (their)
cities, viz. those of the enemy, hast thou destroyed. According to the second
construction above given, this would mean, thou (O enemy) hast destroyed
cities, but art now destroyed thyself. The same reasons as before require
us to prefer Jehovah as the object of address. Gone, perish, is their very
memory. The idiomatic form of the original in this clause cannot be
retained in a translation. The nearest approach to it would be, gone is
their memory, themselves. This may either mean their memory, viz. (that
of) themselves, i. e. their own; or, perished is their memory (and) themselves
(with it). There seems to be an obvious allusion to the threatenings
against Amalek in the books of Moses (Exod. xvii. 14; Num. xxiv. 20;
Deut. xxv. 19), which received their literal fulfilment in the conquests of
Saul and David (1 Sam. xv. 3, 7, xxvii. 8, 9, xxx. 1, 17; 2 Sam. viii. 12;
VER. 7-12.]
PSALM IX.
43
1 Chron. iv. 43). But this is evidently here presented merely as a sample
of other conquests over the surrounding nations (2 Sam. viii. 11-14), and
even these as only samples of the wonders wrought by God for his own
people, and celebrated in ver. 2 (1) above.
8 (7). And Jehovah to eternity, for ever, will sit, as he sits now, upon
the throne and judgment-seat. He has set up for judgment, for the purpose
of acting as a judge, his throne. It is not as an absolute or arbitrary ruler,
but as a just judge, that Jehovah reigns. This recognition of God's judicial
character and office as perpetual is intended to prepare the way for an
appeal to his righteous intervention in the present case.
9 (8). And he, himself, with emphasis upon the pronoun, is to judge the
world, the fruitful and cultivated earth, as the Hebrew word properly
denotes, here put for its inhabitants, in justice, or righteousness, i. e. in
the exercise of this divine perfection. He will judge, a different Hebrew
verb, to which we have no equivalent, he will judge nations, peoples, races,
not mere individuals, in equities, in equity, the plural form denoting fulness
or completeness, as in Ps. i. 1. As the preceding verse describes Jehovah's
kingship as judicial, so the verse before us represents him in the actual
exercise of his judicial functions.
10 (9). And (so) will Jehovah be a high place, out of reach of danger,
hence a refuge, for the oppressed, literally the bruised or broken in pieces,
a high place, refuge, in times of distress, literally at times in distress, i. e.
at times (when men are) in distress. God's judicial sovereignty is exercised
so as to relieve the sufferer and deliver those in danger.
11 (10). And in thee will trust, as now so in all times to come, the
knowers of thy name, those who know the former exhibitions of thy greatness and thy goodness, all which are included in the name of God. See
ver. 3 (2), and Ps. viii. 2 (1), vii. 18 (17), ver. 12 (11). For thou hast not forsaken thy
seekers, or (those) seeking thee, O Lord, Jehovah, i. e. seeking thy favour in general,
and thy protection against their enemies in particular. The certain knowledge of this
fact is laid as the foundation of the confidence expressed in the first clause.
12 (11). Sing, make music, give praise by song or music, to Jehovah,
as the God of Israel, inhabiting Zion, i. e. the sanctuary there established.
Or the words may mean sitting, as a king, enthroned, (in) Zion, which
agrees well with the use of the same verbs in ver. 5, 8 (4, 7) above, although the other version is favoured by the obvious allusion to the symbolical import of the sanctuary under the Mosaic law, as teaching the great
doctrine of God's dwelling among men. See above, on Ps. iii. 5 (4),
v. 8 (7). Zion is here represented as the centre of a circle reaching far
beyond the house of Israel, and indeed co-extensive with the earth. Tell,
declare, make known, in, among, the nations, his exploits, his noble deeds,
the wonders mentioned in ver. 2 (1). We have here, in his inspired
formula of worship, a clear proof that the ancient church believed and
understood the great truth, that the law was to go forth from Zion, and the
word of the Lord from Jerusalem, Isa. ii. 3, Mic. iv. 2.
13 (12). For seeking blood, or as an inquisitor of blood, he has remembered, he remembers, it, i. e. the blood; he has not forgotten the cry of the
distressed. God is here revealed in the character which he assumes in Gen.
ix. 5, where the same verb and noun are used in the first clause of the
verse before us. The word translated blood is in the plural form. See
above, on Ps. v. 7 (6). Hence the literal translation of the next word is,
he has remembered them, i. e. the bloods or murders. The cry meant is
44
PSALM IX.
[VER. 13, 14.
the cry of suffering and complaint, with particular reference to Gen. iv. 10.
According, to another reading of the last clause, the cry is that of the meek
or humble, not of the distressed. But the common text affords a better
sense, and really includes the other, as the innocence of the sufferers is implied, though not expressed. The general import of the verse is that God's
judgments, though deferred, are not abandoned, that he does not forget
even what he seems to disregard, and that sooner or later he will certainly
appear as an avenger. Murder is here put as the highest crime against
the person, for all others, and indeed for wickedness in general.
14 (13). Have mercy upon me, or be gracious to me, O Jehovah, see my
suffering from my haters, raising me from the gates of death. The view
previously taken of God's faithfulness and justice is now made the ground
of an importunate petition for deliverance from present dangers and distress. My haters, those who hate me. From my haters may be taken as
a pregnant construction, meaning, see my suffering (and free me) from my
enemies. Thus in 2 Sam. xviii. 19, "Jehovah hath judged him from the
hand of his enemies," means "hath done him justice (and so freed him)
from the power of his enemies." See a similar expression in Ps. xxii. 22
(21) below. It seems more natural and obvious, however, in the case
before us, to give from a causal meaning. "See my distress (arising)
from, or caused by, those who hate me." Raising me does not denote an
accompanying act, as if he had said, see my distress, and at the same time
lift me up, &c. It is rather descriptive of a certain divine character or
habit, and agrees with the pronoun of the second person understood.
"Thou that liftest me up," that art accustomed so to do, that has done so
in other cases, with an implied prayer, do so now. The gates of death may
have reference to the image of a subterranean dungeon, from which no prisoner can
free himself; or it may be simply a poetical expression for the entrance to the grave
of the state of the dead. Compare Isa. xxxviii. 10, and Mat. xvi. 18.
15 (14). That I may recount all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of
Zion, may joy in thy salvation. This is one important end for which he
asks to be delivered, namely, that God may have the praise of his deliverance. There is a trace, in the Hebrew text, of an original plural form,
praises, which might then denote praiseworthy deeds, actions worthy to be
celebrated. But the singular form occurs with all in Ps. cvi. 2 below.
The gates here mentioned are contrasted with those of the preceding verse.
The God who saves him from the gates of death shall be praised for this
deliverance in the gates of the daughter of Zion. This last expression is
supposed by some to be a personification of the people inhabiting Zion or
Jerusalem, who are then put for Israel at large, as the church or chosen
people. Others regard the genitive construction as equivalent to a simple
apposition, as in river of Euphrates, or in our familiar phrase, the city of
Jerusalem. The personification is then that of the city itself, considered
as an ideal virgin, and on that account called daughter, by a usage similar
to that of the corresponding word in French. In either case, there is an
obvious reference to the ancient church, as the scene or the witness of the
Psalmist's praises. The verb in the last clause may be made to depend upon
the particle at the beginning of the verse, (that) I may exult; or it may be
still more emphatically construed as an independent proposition, I will exult
in thy salvation. The form of the verb is the same as in Ps. ii. 3 above.
The second verb itself occurs in ver. 11 of that psalm, and as in that case,
may either denote an inward emotion or the outward expression of it, I will
VER. 15-18.]
PSALM IX.
45
shout. In thy salvation, i. e. in the possession or experience of it, and in
acknowledgment of having thus experienced or possessed it.
16 (15). Sunk are nations in a pit they made; in a net which they hid,
taken is their foot. This may be either a confident anticipation of the future
as if already past, or a further reference to previous deliverance, as a ground
of hope for others yet to come. Nations, whole nations, when opposed to
God. Compare Ps. ii. 1. The accessory idea of Gentiles, heathen, would
be necessarily suggested at the same time to a Hebrew reader. Most versions have the definite forms, the pit, the net; but the indefinite form of the
original is equally intelligible in English, and therefore preferable as a more
exact translation. The ellipsis of the relative, a pit (which) they made, is
common to the Hebrew idiom and our own. The figures are borrowed
from ancient modes of hunting. See above, on Ps. vii. 16 (15). Their
foot, their own foot, not that of the victim whose destruction they intended.
17 (16). Known is Jehovah, or has made himself known. Justice has he
done, or judgment has he executed. In the work of his (own) hands ensnared is a wicked (man). Higgaion, meditation. Selah, pause. God has
revealed himself as present and attentive, notwithstanding his apparent oblivion and inaction, by doing justice on his enemies, or rather by making
them do justice on themselves, converting their devices against others into
means of self-destruction. In view of this most striking attestation of
God's providential government, the reader is summoned to reflect, and
enabled so to do by a significant and solemn pause. The sense of meditation or reflection is clear from Ps. xix. 15 (14), and Lam. iii. 62. See
below, on Ps. xcii. 4 (3). The addition of Higgaion to Selah here confirms the explanation already given of the latter word. See above, on Ps.
iii. 3 (2). With this understanding of the terms, we may well say, to ourselves or others, in view of every signal providential retribution, especially
where sin is conspicuously made its own avenger, Higgaion Selah!
18 (17). The wicked shall turn back even to hell, to death, or to the grave,
all nations forgetful, of God. The enemies of God and of his people shall
be not only thwarted and repulsed, but driven to destruction; and that not
merely individuals, but nations. For the meaning of Sheol see above, on
Ps. vi. 6 (5). The figure of turning back, retreating, failing, is the same
as in ver. 4 (3) above. The idea expressed is not that of being turned
directly into hell, but that of turning back, first to one's original position,
and then beyond it, to the grave or hell. In the last clause there is an
allusion to the implied charge of forgetfulness on God's part in ver. 13 (12)
above. He had not forgotten the "poor innocents," as they feared, and
as their enemies believed; but these very enemies had forgotten him, and
must now abide the consequences of their own forgetfulness. The future
forms of this verse may have reference to the same things mentioned in the
verse preceding as already past. It seems more natural, however, to explain
them as a confident anticipation of results precisely similar to those which
had already been produced by the same causes. As Jehovah had already
caused the heathen to become their own destroyers, so he might be expected
to renew the same judicial process in another case.
19 (18). For not for ever shall the poor be forgotten, (and) the hope of the
humble perish to eternity. However long God may appear to be forgetful
of his suffering people, even this seeming oblivion is to have an end. Still
another allusion to the charge or imputation of forgetfulness implied in ver.
13 (12) above. The difference between the readings humble and afflicted
46
PSALM X.
[VER. 1.
(Myvnf and Myynf) is not essential, as the context shews that the humble
meant are humble sufferers.
20 (19). Arise, Jehovah! Let not man, frail man, be strong. Let nations, or the heathen, be judged, and as a necessary consequence condemned,
before thy face, in thy presence, at thy bar. Here again, as in ver. 13, 14
(12, 13), the expression of strong confidence is made the occasion of an
earnest prayer. So far is an implicit trust from leading men to cast off
fear and restrain prayer before God. On the exhortation to arise, as from a
state of previous inaction, see above, Ps. iii. 7 (6). For the full sense of the
word translated man, see above, on Ps. viii. 5 (4). Let him not be strong,
i. e. let him not, so appear, or so esteem himself. Let him have no occasion,
by indulgence or prolonged impunity, to cherish this delusion, or to practise this imposture. The absurdity of making man the stronger party in
this strife with God is so preposterous, that God is summoned to arise for
the purpose of exploding it. To be judged, in the case of the wicked, is of
course to be condemned. To be judged in God's presence, or at his tribunal, is of course to be condemned without appeal.
21 (20). Set, place, or join, O Jehovah, fear to them. Let nations know,
or then shall nations know, (that) man, not God, (are) they. Selah. God
is entreated so to frighten them, that they may become conscious of their
own insignificance and weakness. The word translated fear is elsewhere
used to signify a razor. Hence some would render the first clause, apply
the razor to them, i. e. shave them, in allusion to the oriental feeling with
respect to the beard. But this seems far-fetched, and the masoretic reading yields a better sense. The precise import of the first phrase seems to
be, set fear as a guard over them (Ps. cxli. 3), or join it to them as a constant companion. The word translated man is still the same as in the
foregoing verse, and was therefore intended to suggest the idea of human
frailty, as contrasted with divine omnipotence.
PSALM X.
THE Psalmist complains of God's neglect, and of the malice of his enemies, ver. 1-11. He prays that both these subjects of complaint may be
removed, ver. 12-15. He expresses the most confident assurance that
his prayer will be heard and answered, ver. 16-18.
The Septuagint and Vulgate unite this with the ninth psalm as a single
composition. But each is complete in itself, and the remarkable coincidences even of expression only shew that both were meant to form a pair
or double psalm like the first and second, third and fourth, &c. From the
same facts it is clear, that this psalm, though anonymous, is, like the ninth,
the work of David, and that both were probably composed about the same time.
1. For what (cause), why, O Jehovah, wilt thou stand afar, wilt thou hide
at times (when we are) in trouble? The question really propounded is,
how this inaction can be reconciled with what was said of God in Ps. ix.
10 (9).—To stand afar off, is to act as an indifferent, or, at the most, a
curious spectator. Wilt thou hide, i. e. thyself or thine eyes, by refusing to
see, as in Lev. xx. 4, 1 Sam. xii. 3. The futures imply present action
and the prospect of continuance hereafter. The question is not merely why
he does so, but why he still persists in doing so. The singular phrase, at
times in trouble, occurs only here and in Ps. ix. 10 (9), a strong proof of the
VER. 2-4.]
PSALM X.
47
intimate connection of the two psalms, and perhaps of their contemporary
composition. This expostulation betrays no defect either of reverence or
faith, but, on the contrary, indicates a firm belief that God is able, and
must be willing, to deliver his own people. Such demands are never uttered
either by scepticism or despair.
2. In the pride of the wicked burns the sufferer; they are caught in devices which they have contrived. This very obscure verse admits of several
different constructions. The first verb sometimes means to persecute, literally to burn after, or pursue hotly. Gen. xxxi. 36; 1 Sam. xvii. 53. In
one case it seems to have this meaning even without the preposition after.
Lam. iv. 19. The sense would then be, in the pride of the wicked he will
persecute, &c. But the collocation of the words seems to point out ynifA
as the subject, not the object, of the verb. The sufferer's burning may
denote either anger or anguish, or a mixed feeling of indignant sorrow.
The adjective ynifA means afflicted, suffering, whether from poverty or pain.
Poor is therefore too specific a translation. In the Psalms this word is
commonly applied to innocent sufferers, and especially to the people of God,
as objects of malignant persecution. It thus suggests the accessory idea,
which it does not formally express, of righteousness or piety.—In the last
clause there is some doubt as to the subject of the first verb. If referred
to the wicked, the sense will be, that they are taken in their own devices.
If to the poor, that they are caught in the devices of the wicked. The first
is favoured by the analogy of Ps. vii. 15-17 (14-16), and Ps. ix. 16, 17
(15, 16). But the other agrees better with the context, as a description of
successful wickedness.
3. For a wicked (man) boasts of (or simply praises) the desire of his soul,
and winning (i. e. when he wins), blesses, despises Jehovah. This seems to
be a description of the last stage of corruption, in which men openly defend
or applaud their own vices, and impiously thank God for their dishonest
gains and other iniquitous successes.—The preterite forms, has praised, &c.,
denote that it always has been so, as a matter of familiar experience. The
desire of his soul means his natural selfish inclination, his heart's lust.
And winning, i. e. when he wins or gains his end, with special reference
to increase of wealth. Hence the word is sometimes used to signify the
covetous or avaricious grasper after wealth by fraud or force. The same
participle, joined with a cognate noun, is rendered "greedy of gain" in
Prov. i. 19, xv. 27, and "given to covetousness" in Jer. vi. 3, viii. 10.
See also Hab. ii. 9, where the true sense is given in the margin of the
English Bible.—He who gains an evil gain blesses (and) despises Jehovah,
i. e. expresses his contempt of him by thanking him, whether in jest or
earnest, for his own success. He blesses God, and thereby shews that he
despises him. An illustrative parallel is Zech. xi. 4, 5. "Thus saith the
Lord my God, Feed the flock of the slaughter, whose possessors slay them
and hold themselves not guilty, and they that sell them say, Blessed is the
Lord, for I am rich." This parallel, moreover, shews that blesses, in the
verse before us, does not mean blesses himself, as some suppose, but blesses God.
4. A wicked (man), according to his pride, will not seek. There is no
God (are) all his thoughts. Pride is here expressed by one of its outward
indications, loftiness of look, or as some suppose the Hebrew phrase to
signify originally, elevation of the nose.—Will not seek, i. e. seek God in
prayer (Ps. xxxiv. 4), or in the wider sense of worship (Ps. xiv. 2), or in
48
PSALM X.
[VER. 5, 6.
that of inquiring the divine will (Gen. xxv. 22), all which religious acts are
at variance with the pride of the human heart.—All his thoughts, not merely
his opinions, but his plans, his purposes, which is the proper meaning of
the Hebrew word. The language of his life is, that there is no God.—Another
construction of the first clause is as follows. The wicked, according to his
pride (says), He, i. e. God will not require, judicially investigate and punish,
as in Ps. ix. 13 (12), and in ver. 13 below, where there seems to be a reference to the words before us, as uttered by the wicked man himself. —A
third construction thus avoids the necessity of supplying says. —'As to the
wicked in his pride—He will not require, there is no God—are all his
thoughts." This may be transferred into our idiom as follows: All the
thoughts of the wicked in his pride are, that God will not require, or rather
that there is no God. In favour of the first construction given is the fact
that it requires nothing to be supplied like the second, and does not disturb
the parallelism of the clauses like the third. Common to all is the imputation of proud self-confidence and practical atheism to the sinner.
5. His ways are firm, or will be firm, in all time, always. A height, or
high thing, (are) thy judgments from before him, away from him, out of his
sight. (As for) his enemies he will puff at them, as a natural expression of
contempt, or he will blow upon them, i. e. blow them away, scatter them,
with ease. This describes the prosperity and success of sinners, not only
as a fact already familiar, but as something which is likely to continue.
Hence the future forms, which indicate continuance hereafter, just as the
preterites in ver. 3 indicate actual experience.—The only other sense which
can be put upon the first clause is, his ways are twisted, i. e. his actions are
perverse. But the Chaldee paraphrase, the cognate dialects, and the analogy of Job xx. 21, are in favour of the rendering, his ways are strong, i. e.
his fortunes are secure, his life is prosperous, which moreover agrees best
with the remainder of the verse, as a description of the sinner's outward
state. Thus understood, the second clause describes him as untouched or
unaffected by God's providential judgments, and the third as easily ridding
himself of all his human adversaries. Both together represent him as impregnable on all sides, in appearance equally beyond the reach of God and
man. (Compare Luke xviii. 2, 4.) As this immunity from danger, strictly
understood, could exist only in appearance, the whole verse may be regarded
as an expression of the sinner's own opinion rather than his true condition.
6. He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved; to generation and
generation, (I am one) who (shall) not (be) in evil, or as the same Hebrew
phrase is rendered in the English version of Exod. v. 19, in evil case, i. e.
in trouble, in distress. This is a natural expression of the proud security
engendered in the natural man by great prosperity. He hath said, implying
that the cause has already been in operation long enough to shew its natural
effect. In his heart, to himself, in a spirit of self-gratulation and selfconfidence. To age and age, throughout all ages or all generations. The
strength of this expression shews that the speaker is not a real person, but
the ideal type of a whole class. The sinner, who thus says in his heart, is
not the sinner of one period or country, but the sinner of all times and
places, one who never disappears, or ceases thus to feel and act. —The form
of the last clause in Hebrew is peculiar and emphatic. He does not simply
say, I shall never be in evil or adversity, but I am he, I am the man, who
shall never be in evil, as if the very supposition of such a contingency,
however justified by general experience, would be not only groundless but
absurd in this one case. (Compare Isaiah xlvii. 8-10.) There could
VER. 7-9.]
PSALM X.
49
scarcely be a stronger expression of the self-relying spirit of the sinner, as
contrasted with the saints' implicit confidence in God's will and power, not
only to preserve him from falling, but to raise him when he does fall.
7. (Of) cursing his mouth is full, and deceits, and oppression. Under his
tongue (are) trouble and iniquity. He now gives a more particular description of the wicked man, beginning with his sins against his neighbour, and
among these, with his sins of word or speech. If this be a correct view of
the whole verse, the cursing, mentioned in the first clause, is most probably
false swearing, or the invocation of God's name, and imprecation of his
wrath upon one's self, in attestation of a falsehood. This kind of cursing
is closely connected with the fraud and violence which follow. The Hebrew
word j`To to which the older writers gave the sense of fraud, is now commonly explained to mean oppression; so that with the noun preceding, it
denotes injustice, injury to others, both by fraud and violence.—Under the
tongue may have reference to the poison of serpents, or to the use of the
tongue for speaking, as in Ps. lxvi. 17, where the same phrase occurs in
the original, though not in the common version.—Toil, labour, trouble,
endured by others as the consequence of his deceits and violence.—For the
meaning of the last word in the verse, see above, on Ps. v. 6 (5).—Oppression is here reckoned among sins of speech, because the latter may be made
the means of violent injustice, by tyrannical command, by unjust judgment,
or by instigating others to deprive the victim of his rights. If only fraud
had been referred to, this description of the sins committed with the tongue
would have been palpably defective.
8. He will sit in the lurking-place of villages; in the secret places he will
slay the innocent; his eyes for the sufferer will hide, watch secretly, or lie in
wait. From sins of word he now proceeds to those of deed or outward
action. The wicked enemy is here represented as a robber. The futures,
as in ver. 5, imply that what is now is likely to continue. Sitting implies
patient waiting for his prey or victim. The lurking-place, the place where
murderers and robbers usually lurk or lie in wait. Where such crimes are
habitually practised, there is commonly some spot especially associated with
them; either as the scene of the iniquity itself, or as a place of refuge and
resort to those who perpetrate it.—The mention of villages is no proof that
the psalm relates to any specific case of lawless violence, but only that the
Psalmist gives individuality to his description by traits directly drawn from
real life. 'A slight change in the form of expression would convert it into a
poetic simile. As the robber sits in the lurking-place of villages,' &c.
The verb hide has the same sense as in Prov. i. 11, 18.—The word translated sufferer (hkAl;He for j~l;yHe is peculiar to this psalm, and was not
improbably coined for the occasion, as a kind of enigmatical description, in
which David seems to have delighted. A Jewish tradition makes it mean
thy host, i. e. the church of God; but this, besides being forced in itself, is
forbidden by the use of the plural in ver. 10 below. Others derive it from
an Arabic root, meaning to be black, dark, gloomy, sad, unhappy. A third
hypothesis explains it as a compound of two Hebrew words, one meaning weak or
sick, the other sad or sorrowful, and both together representing the object of the
enemy's malice, in the strongest light, as a sufferer both in mind and body.
9. He will lurk in, the hiding-place as a lion in his den; he will lurk (or
lie in wait) to catch the sufferer; he will catch the sufferer by drawing him
into his net, or in drawing him (towards him) with his net. That the pre-
50
PSALM X.
[VER. 10-12.
ceding verse contains a simile, and not a description of the enemy as an
actual robber, is here rendered evident by the. addition of two new comparisons, applied to the same object. In the first clause he is compared to a
lion, in the second to a hunter. See above, on Ps. vii. 16 (15), ix. 16 (15),
and below, on Ps. xxxv. 7, lvii. 7 (6). The force of the futures is the same
as in the foregoing verse.—His den, his shelter, covert, hiding-place. The
Hebrew word is commonly applied to any temporary shed or booth, composed of leaves and branches. He lies in wait to seize the prey, and he
succeeds, he accomplishes his purpose. A third possible construction of
the last clause is, in his drawing (i. e. when he draws) his net. The whole
verse, with the one before it, represents the wicked as employing craft no
less than force for the destruction of the righteous.
10. And bruised he will sink; and by (or in, i. e. into the power of) his
strong ones fall the sufferers, the victims. These are represented, in the
first clause, by a collective singular, and in the second by a plural proper,
that of the unusual word used in ver. 8 above. Its peculiar etymology and
form might be imitated in an English compound, such as sick-sad, weak-sad,
or the like. By his strong ones some would understand the strong parts of
the lion, teeth, claws, &c.; others the same parts personified as warriors.
But even in the foregoing verse, the figure of a lion is exchanged for that of
a hunter; and this again gives place here to that of a military leader or a
chief of robbers, thus insensibly returning to the imagery of ver. 8. These
numerous and rapid changes, although not in accordance with the rules of
artificial rhetoric, add greatly to the life of the description, and are not
without their exegetical importance, as evincing that the whole is metaphorical, a varied tropical exhibition of one and the same object, the combined
craft and cruelty of wicked men, considered as the enemies of God and of
his people. According to this view of the passage, by his strong ones we
may understand the followers of the hostile chief, those who help him and
execute his orders, or the ideal enemy himself, before considered as an individual, but now resolved into the many individuals, of whom the class which
he represents is really composed.
11. He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten, he hath hidden his
face, he hath not seen, cloth not see, and will not see, for ever. The opening
words are the same, and have the same sense, as in ver. 6 above. The three
parallel clauses which follow all express the same idea, namely, that God
takes no note of human offences. This is first expressed by the figure of
forgetfulness; then by that of deliberately refusing to see, as in ver. 1 above;
then by a literal and direct affirmation that he does not see, either the sufferings of his people or the malice of their enemies; and that this is not a
transient or occasional neglect, but one likely to continue for ever.
12. Arise, Jehovah! Almighty (God), raise thy hand! Forget not
sufferers (or the wretched)! The impious incredulity, expressed in the preceding verse, is now made the ground of an importunate petition. God is
besought to do away with the appearance of inaction and indifference. See
above, on Ps. vii. 7 (6). Raise thy hand, exert thy power. The second
name by which God is addressed (lxe) is one expressive of omnipotence,
and may be correctly rendered by our phrase, Almighty God. As the name
Jehovah appeals to his covenant relation to his people, as a reason for
granting their requests, so this invokes his power as necessary to their
deliverance and the vindication of his own honour from the imputation of
forgetfulness cast upon him by his enemies. This imputation he is entreated,
VER. 13-16.]
PSALM X.
51
in the last clause, to wipe off by shewing that he does remember. Forget not
is, in this connection, tantamount to saying, shew that thou dost not forget.
Here, as in Ps. ix. 13 (12), the margin of the Hebrew Bible reads (Myvinf)
meek or humble, while the text has (Myynf) suffering or afflicted. The
Kethib, or textual reading, is regarded by the highest critical authorities as
the more ancient, and therefore, except in some rare cases, entitled to the preference.
13. On what (ground) has the wicked contemned God, has he said in his
heart, Thou wilt not require? The question implies the sin and folly of the
conduct described. The past tense suggests the inquiry why it has been
suffered to go on so long. Contemned, i. e. treated with contempt. The
reference is not to inward feeling merely, but to its external manifestation.
The second clause shews how the feeling has been manifested. Said in his
heart; is here repeated for the third time in this psalm. See ver. 6, 11,
above., The direct address to God in the last clause is peculiarly emphatic.
The wicked man not only speaks irreverently of him, but insults him to his
face. Thou wilt not require. The Hebrew verb includes the ideas of investigation and exaction. Thou wilt not inquire into my conduct, or require
an account of it. See ver. 4 above, and compare Ps. ix. 13 (12). The
whole verse contains an indirect expostulation or complaint of the divine
forbearance towards such high-handed and incorrigible sinners.
14. Thou hast seen (this particular instance of iniquity); for trouble, the
suffering occasioned by such sins, and provocation, that afforded by such
sins, thou wilt behold, it is thy purpose and thy habit to behold it, to give
with thy hand a becoming recompence, or to give into thy hand, i. e. to lay
it up there in reserve, as something to be recompensed hereafter. Upon
thee the sufferer will leave (his burden), will rely. An orphan, here put for
the whole class of innocent and helpless sufferers, thou hast been helping;
God has ever been a helper of the friendless, and may therefore be expected
to do likewise now. The whole verse is an argument drawn from the
general course of the divine administration. Hence the preterite and future
forms. Thou hast seen in this case, for thou always wilt see in such cases.
For the meaning of trouble and provocation, see above, on Ps. vi. 8 (7), vii. 15 (14).
15. Break thou the arm, destroy the power, of the wicked, and the bad
(man), or as to the bad man, thou wilt seek for his wickedness (and) not
find it. This may either mean, thou wilt utterly destroy him and his
wickedness, so that when sought for it cannot be found (Ps. xxxvii. 36), or
thou wilt judicially investigate his guilt, and punish it till nothing more is
left to punish. The Hebrew verb (wrd) has then the same sense as in ver.
4, 13, above, and there is a direct allusion to the sinner's boast that God
will not inquire into men's acts or require an account of them. There may
be a latent irony or sarcasm, as if he had said, Thou wilt find nothing, as he
boasts, but in a very different sense; not because there is nothing worthy
of punishment, but because there will be nothing left unpunished.
16. Jehovah (is) king! He is not dethroned, as his enemies imagine; he
is still king, and will so remain, perpetuity and eternity, for ever and ever.
Lost, perished, are nations, the heathen, i. e. hostile nations, from, out of,
his land, the Holy Land, the Land of Israel, the land of which he is the king
in a peculiar sense, distinct from that of providential ruler. The Psalmist
sees Jehovah still enthroned, not only as the sovereign of the world, but as
the sovereign of his people. (See Num. xxiii. 21, Deut. xxxiii. 5). The
nations or heathen of this verse may be either literal or spiritual gentiles
52
PSALM X.
[VER. 17, 18.
(Jer. ix. 25, Ezek. xvi. 3). The psalm is so framed as to express the feelings of God's people in various emergencies. The preterite tense in the
last clause represents the destruction of God's enemies as already past,
not only on account of its absolute certainty, but because the process of
destruction, although not completed, is begun and will infallibly continue.
Here, as often elsewhere, earnest prayer is followed by the strongest expression of confidence and hope.
17. The desire of the meek (or humble) thou hast heard, Jehovah! Their
desire is already accomplished. And this not merely once for all. Thou
wilt settle (or confirm) their heart, i. e. dispel their fears and give them
courage, by new assurances of favour and repeated answers to their prayers.
Thou wilt incline thine ear, or make it attentive, cause it to listen, to their
future no less than their past petitions. The figure of a fixed or settled
heart recurs more than once below. See Ps. li. 12 (10), lvii, 8 (7), cxii. 7.
The essential idea is that of a firm resolution, as opposed to timid doubt
and vacillation.
18. To judge, or do justice to, the orphan and the bruised, or oppressed.
See above, on Ps. ix. 10 (9). This clause seems properly to form a part of
the preceding verse; thou wilt incline thine ear to judge, &c. The remainder of the verse is a distinct proposition. He shall not add (or continue)
any longer to resist, or defy, i. e. to set God at defiance. The subject of
these verbs is placed last for the sake of greater emphasis. Man, frail man,
from the earth, springing from it, and belonging to it; see Gen. iii. 19. For
the full sense of the word translated man, see above, on Ps. viii. 5 (4), ix.
20 (19), and compare the whole prayer in the latter passage with the one
before us. The sense here is, that weak and short-lived man shall not continue to insult and defy Almighty God. It implies a wish or prayer, but is
in form a strong expression of the Psalmist's confident assurance that it will
be so, and in connection with the similar expressions of the two preceding
verses, forms a worthy and appropriate close of the entire composition. The
original of this verse is commonly supposed to exhibit an example of the
figure called paronomasia, an intentional resemblance, both in form and
sound, between two words of very different meaning. The words supposed to be so related here are those translated to defy (Crf) and earth
(Crx). This peculiarity of form, if really designed and significant, is one
which cannot be completely reproduced in any version. There is reason
to suspect, however, that in this, as in many other cases, the resemblance is
fortuitous, like that which frequently occurs in a translation, without anything to match it in the original; e. g. in the Vulgate version of Gen. viii.
22, æstus and æstas, and in that of Gen. xii. 16, oves et boves.
PSALM XI.
THE Psalmist is advised, by friends or foes, to escape by flight from the
inextricable difficulties in which he finds himself involved, ver. 1-3. This
he refuses to do, as inconsistent with his faith in the righteousness and
grace of God, ver. 4-7. The logical relation of these parts makes the
form of the whole somewhat dramatic, although this peculiarity is much
less marked than in the second psalm. The language is not so much that
of an historical person as of an ideal sufferer, representing the whole class
of persecuted innocents. There is no specific reference to any incidents in
David's life, although some of the images were probably suggested by his
VER. 1-4.]
PSALM Xl.
53
recollections, both of Saul's persecution and of Absalom's rebellion. The
general resemblance of this psalm to that before it, and the special resemblance of ver. 2 to Ps. x. 8, 9, may account for its position in the Psalter.
The very difficulties of this psalm are proofs of its antiquity and strong
corroborations of the title, which ascribes it to David.
1. To the chief musician, belonging to him as the performer, and to David,
as the author. In Jehovah I have trusted, and do still trust. How will
(or can) ye say to my soul, Flee (to) your mountain (as) a bird? The profession of confidence in God at the beginning is the ground of the following
interrogation, which implies wonder and disapprobation. How can ye say
so? really means, ye should not say so. The question seems to be addressed
to timid or desponding friends, rather than to taunting and exulting enemies,
as some suppose.—To my soul does not simply mean to me, but so as to
affect my feelings. See above, on Ps. iii. 3 (2). In the genuine text the
verb flee is plural, because addressed to the whole class represented by the
ideal sufferer in this case. Hence the frequent change of number throughout
the psalm. See above, on Ps. x. 10. The exhortation to flee must be
understood as implying that there is no longer any hope of safety.—To
your mountain, as a customary place of refuge, not for birds, but for
persecuted men. The comparison with a bird has no particular connection.
with this clause, but is a kind of after-thought, suggesting the idea of a
solitary helpless fugitive. (Compare 1 Sam. xxvi. 20, and Lam. iii. 52). There may be
an allusion to the words of the angel in Gen. xix. 17, as there certainly is to one or
both these places in our Lord's exhortation to his followers, Matt. xxiv. 16.
2. For lo, the wicked will tread (i. e. bend) the bow; they have fixed their
arrow on the string, to shoot in darkness at the straightforward (upright) of
heart. These are still the words of the advisers introduced in the preceding
verse, assigning a reason for the advice there given.—Tread the bow; see
above, on Ps. vii. 13 (12). Will tread, are about to tread, are treading.
The preterite which follows refers to a later point of time. The speakers
are supposed to describe what they see actually passing. "They are bending the bow, (and now) they have fixed the arrow on the string." The
graphic vividness of the description is impaired, if not destroyed, by giving
both the verbs a present form.—Fixed, i. e. in its proper place. The same
verb occurs above, in Ps. vii. 13 (12). Make ready is too vague in the
case before us.—In darkness, in the dark, in secret, treacherously. See
above, Ps. x. 8. 9.—The straight of heart, the upright and sincere. We
do not use the adjective in this sense; but we have the cognate substantive,
rectitude, which properly means straightness.
3. For the pillars (or foundations) will be (are about to be) destroyed:
what has the righteous done, i. e. accomplished? The pillars or foundations are those of social order or society itself. These are said to be
destroyed, when truth and righteousness prevail no longer, but the intercourse of men is governed by mere selfishness. The question in the last
clause implies that the righteous has effected nothing, in opposition to
the prevalent iniquity. The past tense represents this as a matter of actual
experience, but as one which still continues. The substitution of any other
form in the translation is gratuitous and ungrammatical. The true relation
of the tenses is correctly given in the Prayer Book Version. For the foundations will be cast down, and what hath the righteous done?
4. Jehovah (is) in his palace (or temple) of holiness; Jehovah (or as to
Jehovah), in the heavens (is) his throne. His eyes behold, his eyelids prove
54
PSALM XI.
[VER. 5-7.
the sons of men. He is so exalted that he can see, and so holy that he
must see and judge the conduct of his creatures. By an equally grammatical but less natural construction, the whole verse may be thrown into a
single proposition. "Jehovah in his holy temple, Jehovah whose throne
is in heaven, his eyes," &c.—For the meaning of the word translated temple,
see above on PS. v. 8 (7).—Eyelids are mentioned as a poetical parallel
to eyes, being the nearest equivalent afforded by the language.—Try or
prove, as if by seeing through them. With the whole verse compare Ps. cii. 20 (19).
5. Jehovah the righteous will prove, will prove the righteous, and the
wicked and the lover of violence his soul hates. The sentence might also be
divided thus: Jehovah will prove the righteous and the wicked, and the lover
of violence his soul hates. Different from both is the masoretic interpunction,
which seems, however to be rather musical than grammatical or logical.—
The divine proof or trial of the righteous implies favour and approval like
the knowledge spoken of in Ps. i. 6; but in neither case is it expressed.
Violence, including the ideas of injustice and cruelty. See above, on Ps.
vii. 17 (16). His soul has hated and still hates. This is not simply equivalent to he hates, but denotes a cordial hatred. Odit ex animo. He hates
with all his heart.
6. He will rain on wicked (men) snares, fire and brimstone, and a raging
wind, the portion of their cup. The mixed metaphors shew that the whole
description is a tropical one, in which the strongest figures elsewhere used,
to signify destruction as an effect of the divine wrath, are combined. Rain
is a natural and common figure for any copious communication from above,
whether of good or evil. Snares are a favourite metaphor of David for
inextricable difficulties. See above, vii. 16 (15), ix. 16 (15), x. 9.—Fire
and brimstone are familiar types of sudden and complete destruction, with
constant reference to the great historical example of Sodom and Gomorrah.
See Gen. xix. 24, and compare Ezek. xxxviii. 22, Job xxiii. 15.—Raging
wind, literally wind (or blast) of furies, is another natural but independent
emblem of sudden irresistible inflictions. The second Hebrew word is
elsewhere used for strong indignation (Ps. cxix. 53), and is once applied to.
the ragings (or ravages) of famine. (Lam. v. 10.)—The portion of their
cup, or their cup-portion, something measured out for them to drink,
according to the frequent Scriptural representation, both of God's wrath
and favour, as a draught, or as the cup containing it. Compare Ps. xvi. 5,
xxiii. 5, with Mat. xx. 22, 23, xxvi. 39. The meaning of the whole verse is
that, notwithstanding the present security of the ungodly, they shall, sooner
or later, be abundantly visited with every variety of destructive judgment.
7. For righteous (is) Jehovah; righteousness he loves; the upright (man)
shall his face behold. The for suggests the intimate connection between
God's judgment on the wicked and his favour to the righteous. The second
clause is a necessary inference from the first. The nature of God determines
his judgments and his acts. He who is righteous in himself cannot but
approve of righteousness in others. The righteousness of others is in fact
nothing more than conformity to his will and nature. Nor does he merely
approve of righteousness in the abstract; he rewards it in the person of the
righteous man. This idea is expressed in the last clause, which admits of
several constructions. It may mean that the upright shall behold his face,
i. e. enjoy his favourable presence, as in Ps. xvii. 15. But the collocation
of the singular noun and the plural verb, with the analogy of ver. 4 above,
is in favour of a different construction: his face shall behold (or does behold)
VER. 1.]
PSALM XII.
55
the righteous, i. e. view them with favour and affection. Because the original expression is not properly his face, but their face or faces, Luther
explains this as a reason why God loves the righteous, to wit, because their
faces look upon (the) right, or that which is right. Another construction,
founded on the same fact, is, the righteous shall behold (it with) their faces.
It is better, however, to regard this as an instance of that remarkable idiom
in Hebrew, which applies to the One True God, verbs, nouns, and pronouns in the plural, and which some explain as a pluralis majestaticus, like
that employed by kings at present, and others as a form of speech transferred from polytheism to the true religion. Most probably, however, it
was intended to express the fulness of perfection in the divine nature, not
without a mystical allusion to the personal distinction in the Godhead. The
most remarkable examples of this usage may be found in Gen. i. 26, iii. 22,
xi. 7, Job. xxxv. 10, Ps. lviii. 12, Eccles. xii. 1, Isa. vi. 8, liv. 5.—The
face is here, like the eyelids in ver. 4, a poetical equivalent to eyes, and the
same parallelism reappears in Ps. xxxiv. 16, 17 (15, 16): "the eyes of
Jehovah (are) towards the righteous;" "the face of Jehovah (is) against
evil-doers."
PSALM XII.
THIS psalm consists of two parts easily distinguished: a complaint with
an expression of desire, and a promise with an expression of confidence and
hope. The Psalmist laments the waning number of good men, ver. 2 (1),
And the abounding of iniquity, ver. 3 (2), to which he desires and expects
that God will put an end, ver. 4, 5 (3, 4). In answer to this prayer, he
receives an assurance of protection and deliverance for the righteous, ver.
6 (5), on which he rests as infallibly certain, ver. 7 (6), and consoles himself under present trials, ver. 8 (7).
There seems to be no specific reference to the persecution of the Jews
by the Gentiles, or of David by Absalom or Saul. The contrast exhibited
is rather that between the righteous and the wicked as a class, and the
psalm seems designed to be a permanent vehicle of pious sentiment for the
church or chosen people under persecution by malignant enemies. It contains an unusual number of difficult expressions in proportion to its length;
but these are not of such a nature as to make its general import doubtful
or obscure.
1. To the Chief Musician, on the eighth (or octave), a Psalm of David.
This title is identical with that of the sixth psalm, except that Neginoth is
here omitted.
2 (1). Save, Jehovah, for the merciful (or the object of divine mercy)
ceaseth, for the faithful fail from (among) the sons of men. The adjective
dysiHA, whether taken in an active or a passive sense, is descriptive of the
pious or godly man; see above, on Ps. iv. 4 (3). The preterite form of
the verbs (has ceased, have failed) represents the fearful process as already
begun. The word rendered faithful in the last clause may also have the
abstract sense of truth, fidelity; see below, Ps. xxxi. 24 (23), and compare
Isa. xxvi. 2. In either case, the whole verse is a strong hyperbolical
description of the small number of good men left in the community, and
their consequent exposure to the malice of the wicked. Such expressions,
as Luther well suggests, are too familiar in the dialect of common life to be
mistaken or produce perplexity.
56
PSALM XII.
[VER. 2-6.
3 (2). Vanity, i. e. falsehood, they will speak; as they now do, so will
they persist in doing; (each) man with his neighbour, not merely with
another man, but with his friend, his brother, towards whom he was particularly bound to act sincerely; compare Eph. iv. 25. A lip of smoothness,
or of smooth things, i. e. flattering; see above, on Ps. v. 10 (9). This may
be connected either with what goes before or with what follows: "They
speak falsehood, each to his neighbour, with a flattering lip;" or, "(with)
a flattering lip (and) with a double heart will they speak." A heart and a
heart, i. e. a double heart, as a stone and a stone means "divers weights."
Deut. xxv. 13. By a double heart we are probably to understand, not
mere dissimulation or hypocrisy, but inconsistency and instability of temper,
which leads men to entertain opposite feelings towards the same object.
Compare the description of the "double-minded man" in James i. 8.
4 (3.) May Jehovah destroy all lips of smoothness, flattering lips, (and
every) tongue speaking great things, i. e. speaking proudly, boasting. The
form of the Hebrew verb is one commonly employed to express an optative
meaning; but as this form is often poetically used for the future proper, it
might be rendered here, Jehovah will destroy. There is no inconsistency
between the flattering lips and the boastful tongue, because the subject of
the boasting, as appears from what follows, is the flattery or deceit itself.
As if he had said, Jehovah will destroy all flattering lips, and every tongue that boasts
of their possession or use. For an example of such boasting, see Isa. xxviii. 15.
5 (4). Who have said, By our tongues will we do mightily; our lips (are)
with us: who is lord to us, or over us? This is an amplified specification
of the phrase speaking great things in the preceding verse. By our tongues,
literally, as to, with respect to our tongues. The idea of agency or instrumentality is suggested by the context. Do mightily, exercise power, shew
ourselves to be strong. Our lips are with us may either mean they are our
own, at our disposal, or, they are on our side. The idea of the whole verse
is, by our own lips and our tongues we can accomplish what we will.
6 (5). From the desolation of the wretched, from the sighing of the poor,
now will I arise, shall Jehovah say, I will place in safety him that shall
pant for it. The preposition from has a causal meaning, because of, on
account of. The wretched, afflicted, sufferers; see above, on Ps. ix. 13 (12).
I will arise; see above, on Ps. iii. 8 (7). The future, shall Jehovah say,
implies that the promise is not yet uttered, much less fulfilled. An analogous use of the same form of the same verb runs through some of the prophecies, and especially the later chapters of Isaiah.—The last clause is
obscure, and may also be translated, "from him that puffeth at him,"—
"him at whom they puff,"—"him whom they would blow away," &c. The
most probable meaning is the one first given, according to which the verse
contains a promise of deliverance to those who especially desire and need it.
7 (6). The sayings of Jehovah are pure sayings, silver purged in a furnace of earth, refined seven times. The Psalmist does not use the term
commonly translated words, but one derived from the verb to say, with
obvious allusion to the use of the verb itself in the preceding verse. What
Jehovah there says, the promises there given, are here declared to be true,
without any mixture of mistake or falsehood. This is expressed by the
favourite figure of pure metallic ore. The idea of extreme or perfect purity
is conveyed by the idiomatic phrase, purified seven times, i. e. repeatedly,
or sevenfold, i. e. completely. Compare Dan. iii. 19. The general meaning of the verse is clear, but it contains one phrase which is among the
VER. 7, 8.]
PSALM XII.
57
most doubtful and disputed in the whole book. This is the phrase lylfb,
Crxl. To the common version above given, in a furnace of earth, and to
another somewhat like it, purged in a furnace as to (i. e. from) the earth, or
earthy particles, it has been objected, that Crx never means earth as a
material. Some avoid this difficulty by translating, in a furnace on the
earth (or ground), or, in the workshop (laboratory) of the earth, i. e. the
mine; but this is not the place where ores are purified. It is further
objected to all these translations, that they attach a supposititious meaning
to the noun lylf. It is therefore explained by some as a variation of lfb,
lord or master, and the whole clause made to mean, purified silver of a lord
of the earth, i. e. refined not for ordinary use, but for that of some great
prince or noble. The obscurity which overhangs the meaning of this clause
is less to be regretted, as the main idea must, on any supposition, still be
that of unusual and perfect purity.
8 (7). Thou, Jehovah, wilt keep them; thou wilt guard him from this
generation to eternity, i. e. for ever. In the first clause, though not in the
second, the pronoun thou is expressed in Hebrew, and may therefore be
regarded as emphatic; see above, on Ps. ii. 6, iii. 4 (3). Thou, and no
other, or, thou without the aid of others, wilt preserve them. The plural
pronoun in the first clause, and the singular in the second, refer to the
same persons, viz., the' sufferers mentioned in ver. 7 (6). By a licence
common in the Psalms, they are first spoken of as a plurality, and then as
an ideal person; see above, on Ps. x. 10. This generation, this contemporary race of wicked men, with reference perhaps to the description, in
ver 2 (1), of the disproportion between these and the righteous. For ever,
as long as the necessity or danger lasts, so long shall the injured innocent
experience the divine protection.
9 (8). Round about will the wicked walk. This may either mean that
they shall walk at liberty and have full licence, or that they shall encompass
and surround the righteous. Compare Ps. iii. 7 (6). The other clause is
one of the most doubtful and disputed in the whole book. The particle k
may denote either time or resemblance, and the noun tUl.z, which occurs nowhere else, has been variously explained to mean a storm, an earthquake,
vileness or contempt, &c. Among the different senses put upon the whole
phrase are the following: "When the vileness (or vilest) of men is exalted."
"Like the rising of a storm upon the sons of men." "When they rise (or
are exalted) there is shame (or disgrace) to the sons of men." "When
disgrace arises to the sons of men." "Like exaltation is disgrace to the
sons of man." In favour of this last it has been urged, that it gives to each
word its most natural and obvious sense, and that it closes with a prospect
of relief, and not with an unmitigated threatening, which would be at variance with the usage of the Psalms. The meaning of the verse is then, that
although the wicked are now in the ascendant, and the righteous treated
with contempt, this disgrace is really an exaltation, because only external
and in man's judgment, not in God's, who will abundantly indemnify his
people for the dishonour which is put upon them. The unusual and almost
unintelligible form in which this idea is expressed, is supposed to agree
well with David's fondness for obscure and enigmatical expressions; see
above, on Ps. v. 1 and vii. 1.
58
PSALM XIII.
[VER. 1-3.
PSALM XIII.
THIS psalm consists of a complaint, ver. 2, 3 (1, 2), a prayer for deliverance, vers. 4, 5 (3, 4), and an expression of strong confidence that God
will grant it, ver. 6 (5, 6).
There is no trace of a specific reference to any particular period in the
life of David, or to any persecution of the ancient Israel by heathen enemies.
The psalm appears to be intended as a vehicle of pious sentiment, for the
church at large and individual believers, under any affliction of the sort here
described, namely, that arising from the spiteful hostility of wicked men.
The tone, as in several of the foregoing psalms, varies from that of deep
depression to that of an assured hope, connected, as in actual experience,
by one of strong desire and fervent supplication.
1. To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of David. This title differs from
that of the fourth psalm, as the title of the twelfth does from that of the
sixth, to wit, by the omission of tvnygnb.
2 (1). Until when, how long, Jehovah, wilt thou forget me for ever? Until
when wilt thou hide thy face from me? The refusal or delay of the divine
help is here, as often elsewhere, represented by the figures of forgetfulness
and an averted countenance. See above, on Ps. ix. 13, 19 (12, 18), x. 11,
12. The apparent solecism of combining how long with for ever may be
avoided by supposing two interrogations, how long? for ever? It may also
be avoided by giving to Hcan, the sense of continuously, uninterruptedly.
But even the obvious construction, which is more agreeable to usage and
the masoretic interpunction of the sentence, may be justified as a strong
but natural expression of the conflict between sense and faith. To the eye
of sense and reason, the abandonment seemed final; but faith still prompted
the inquiry, how long, which implies that it was not to last for ever. As if
he had said, How long wilt thou persist in the purpose of forgetting me for
ever?
3 (2). Till when, how long, shall I place (or lay up) counsels, plans, in
my soul, grief in my heart by day? Till when shall my enemy be high above
me? The idea in the first clause seems to be that of accumulating methods
or expedients of escape, as in a storehouse, without finding any that will
answer the purpose. The same figure maybe continued in the second
clause: (how long shall I lay up) sorrow in my heart? The sense is then
that the multiplication of devices only multiplies his sorrows. Or the figure
of laying up may be confined to the first clause, and the noun grief governed
by a verb understood: (how long shall I feel) sorrow in my heart? The
common version, having sorrow, conveys the same idea, but supplies a verb
unknown to the Hebrew and its cognate languages.—By day is elsewhere
put in opposition to by night, as for instance in Ps. i. 2 above. Here it
may possibly mean all day, but more probably means every day, daily, as
in Ezek. xxx. 16.—Be high: the original expression is a verb alone. How
long shall my enemy soar or tower above me, i. e. be superior, prevail?
This clause determines the precise form of suffering complained of, namely,
that occasioned by the malice of a powerful persecutor or oppressor. In
all such cases, Saul was no doubt present to the mind of David, but only
as a specimen or type of the whole class to which the psalm relates.
4 (3). Look, hear me, Jehovah, my God, lighten my eyes, lest I sleep the
death. The complaint is now followed by a corresponding prayer. In
VER. 4, 5.]
PSALM XIII.
59
allusion to the hiding of the face in ver. 2 (1), he now beseeches God to
look towards him, or upon him, to shew by his acts that he has not lost
sight of him. As he before complained Of God's forgetting him, so here he
prays that he will hear and answer him. See above, on Ps. iii. 5 (4). The
idea of Jehovah as a God in covenant with his people, is brought out still
more fully by the phrase my God, i. e. one on whom I have a right to call,
with a well-founded hope of being heard. See above on Ps. iii. 8 (7).—
Enlighten my eyes, or make them shine, is by some understood to mean,
Dispel my doubts, and extricate me out of my perplexities, with reference
to the plans or counsels mentioned in the preceding verse. Others, with
more probability, suppose an allusion to the dimness of the eyes produced
by extreme weakness or approaching death, and understand the prayer as
one for restoration and deliverance from imminent destruction. Compare
1 Sam. xiv. 27, 29, where the relief of Jonathan's debility, occasioned by
long fasting, is described by saying that his eyes were enlightened.—Lest
the sleep (in) death, or lest I sleep the (sleep of) death, as in the common version.
Compare the beautiful description of death as a sleep of perpetuity, a perpetual or everlasting sleep, in Jer. li. 39, 57.
5 (4). Lest my enemy say, I have overpowered him (and) my adversaries
shout when I am shaken, or because I shall be shaken.—The verb ytlky
strictly means, I have been able. The unusual construction with a pronoun
(vytlky) cannot be literally rendered into English, but the meaning evidently
is, I have been able (to subdue) him, or, I have been strong (in comparison
with) him. As to the combination of the singular and plural (enemy and
adversaries), see above, on Ps. x. 11 (10).—Shout, i. e. for joy, or in a
and single word, triumph. See above, on Ps. ii. 11.—The last verb (FOm.x,) has
the same sense as in Ps. x. 6, viz., that of being moved or cast down from
one's firm position.
6 (5, 6). And I in thy mercy have trusted; let my heart exult in thy salvation; I will sing to Jehovah, for he hath done me good, or acted kindly
towards me. The transition indicated by the phrase and I, is the same as
in Ps. ii. 6 above. Such are the enemies and dangers which environ me,
and (yet) I have trusted in thy mercy. The past tense of the verb describes
the trust, not as something to be felt hereafter, or as just beginning to be
felt at present, but as already entertained and cherished, and therefore likely
to be still continued. I have trusted, and do still trust, and will trust hereafter.—There is a beautiful gradation in the clauses of this verse. First,
a fact is stated: 'I have trusted in thy mercy;' then a desire is expressed:
'let my heart rejoice in thy salvation;' then a fixed purpose is announced:
'I will sing unto Jehovah.' The reason annexed to this determination or
engagement, implies an assured expectation of a favourable issue. As if he
had said, I know the Lord will treat me kindly, and I am resolved to praise
him for so doing.—In thy salvation, not merely on account of it, but in the
contemplation, the possession, the enjoyment of it. See above, Ps. v. 12
(11), ix. 3 (2). The verb lmaGA which occurs above in Ps. vii. 5 (4),
corresponds most nearly to the English treat, in the sense of dealing with
or acting towards; but when absolutely used, as here, almost invariably has
a good sense, and specifically means to treat well or deal kindly with a person.
The idea of requital or reward, which is frequently attached to it in the
English version, is suggested, if at all, not by the word itself, but by the
context.
60
PSALM XIV.
[VER. 1, 2.
The Septuagint has an additional clause, which is retained in the Prayer
Book version, and thus rendered: Yea, I will praise the name of the Lord
most Highest. The words are not found in any Hebrew manuscript.
PSALM XIV.
WE have first a description of human depravity as universal, ver. 1-3;
then a confident anticipation of destructive judgments on the incorrigibly
wicked, ver. 4-6; and an earnest wish for the speedy deliverance of God's
elect from the evils of their natural condition and from the malice of their
unconverted enemies, ver. 7.
There seems to be no reference to any particular historical occasion.
The psalm was, no doubt, originally written to express the feelings of God's
people, in all times and places, with respect to the original depravity of all
men, and the obstinate persistency in evil of the greater number. The points
of resemblance and of difference between this psalm and the fifty-third will
be considered in the exposition of the latter.
1. To the Chief Musician, by David. The fool hath said in his heart,
There is no God. They have done corruptly, they have done abominably (in)
deed (or act); there is none doing good. Sin is constantly held up to view
in Scripture as the height of folly, and the sinner as the fool by way of
eminence. See Gen. xxxiv, 7, Josh. vii. 15, Ps. xxxix. 9 (8). The term is
here collective and applied to the whole race, as appears from the plurals
which follow, and the negative statement in the last clause. The preterites
include the present, but suggest the additional idea, that the truth here
asserted is the result of all previous experience and observations.—In his
heart, to himself, if not to others, as above, in Ps. x. 11. That the
error is one of the affections, and not merely of the understanding, is
supposed by some to be implied in the use of the word heart, which is
often used, however, to denote the mind or soul in general. Nyxe is properly
a noun, and means nonentity or non-existence "nothing of God," or "no
such thing as God." It cannot be explained as a wish—"No God!" i. e..
Oh that there were no God!—because Nyxe in usage always includes the
substantive verb, and denies the existence, or at least the presence, of the
person or thing to which it is prefixed. This is also clear from the use of
the same word in the last clause, where its sense is unambiguous. —The
addition of the word act or deed shews that the atheism described is not
merely theoretical but practical.—There is obvious allusion in this verse
to the description of the general antediluvian corruption in Gen. vi. 12.
This makes it the more certain that the description here was not intended
either for Jews or Gentiles, as such, but for wicked men of either class, and
that Paul's application of the words, in Rom. iii. 10, 12, is perfectly legitimate, and not a mere accommodation of the Psalmist's language to another
purpose.
2. Jehovah from heaven has looked down on the sons of man, to see if
there were (one) acting wisely, seeking God. While the fool denies the being
of a God, Jehovah's eye is on him and his fellow-men. Yet even that omniscient eye can discern no exception to the general depravity and folly.
The earnestness of the inspection is suggested by the verb in the first clause,
which originally means to lean or bend over, and is peculiarly appropriate
to the act of one gazing intently down upon a lower object. The force of
VER. 3, 4.]
PSALM XIV.
61
the preterite tense is the same as in the preceding verse. The inquiry has
been made already, and proved fruitless. It is no longer a doubtful question, but one definitively settled.—Acting wisely, in contrast to the atheistical folly mentioned in ver. 1. The test of wisdom is in seeking God,
whether in the general religious sense of seeking his favour and communion
with him, or in the special sense of seeking proofs of his existence. As if
he had said, Even those who think there is no God, if they were wise,
would seek one; but these fools take pleasure in the hideous negation. The
image presented in this verse may be compared with that in Gen. vi. 12,
xi. 5, xviii.21. See also Ps. xxiii. 13, 14.
3. The whole has apostatised; together they have putrefied; there is none
doing good; there is not even one. Total and universal corruption could
not be more clearly expressed than by this accumulation of the strongest
terms, in which, as Luther well observes, the Psalmist, not content with
saying all, adds together, and then negatively, no not one. It is plain that
he had no limitation or exception in his mind, but intended to describe the
natural condition of all men, in the widest and most unrestricted sense.
The whole, not merely all the individuals as such, but the entire race as a
totality or ideal person.—The whole (race) has departed, not merely from
the right way, but from God, instead of seeking him, as intimated in ver. 4.
Together, not merely altogether or without exception, but in union and by
one decisive act or event. The etymological import of the verb is
to turn sour, to spoil. It is applied to moral depravation not only here,
but in Job xv. 16. The Septuagint version of these words is quoted by
Paul in Rom. iii. 12, as a part of his scriptural description of human
depravity, the rest of which is taken from Ps. v. 10 (9), x. 7, xxxvi. 2 (1),
cxl. 4, Isa. lix. 7, 8. Under the false impression that he meant to quote a
single passage, some early Christian copyist appears to have introduced the
whole into the Septuagint version of this psalm, where it is still found in
the Codex Vaticanus, as well as in the Vulgate, and even in one or two Hebrew
manuscripts of later date. The interpolation is also retained in the Anglican Psalter.
It is evident, however, that the apostle's argument is strengthened by the fact of his
proofs being drawn, not from one, but several parts of the Old Testament.
4. Do they not know, all (these) workers of iniquity, eating my people (as)
they eat bread, (and) on Jehovah call not? The question is elliptical: the
object of the verb must be supplied from the context. Do they not know
that they are thus corrupt and estranged from God, and therefore objects
of his wrath? Is it because they do not know this or believe it, that they
thus presume to oppress and persecute his people? The figure of devouring occurs often elsewhere, e.g. Prov. xxx. 14, Mic. iii. 3, Hab. iii. 14.
See below, on Ps. xxvii. 2 (1). As they eat bread may either mean for
their support—living on the plunder and oppression of my people; or for
pleasure—feeding on them with delight; or with indifference and as little
sense of guilt as when they take their ordinary fond.— Call not on Jehovah,
do not worship him, as they were before said not to seek him, nor even to
acknowledge his existence, all which are periphrastical descriptions of the
wicked as a class. The general description of their wickedness is here
exchanged for a specific charge, that of persecuting the righteous. The
mention of two classes here is not at variance with the universal terms of
the preceding context, nor does it render any limitation of those terms
necessary. All men are alike "children of wrath," but some are elected
to be "vessels of mercy," and thereby become objects of hatred to the un-
62
PSALM XIV.
[VER. 5-7
converted mass who still represent the race in its apostasy from God.—My
people does not make it necessary to regard these as the words of God himself, who
is nowhere introduced as speaking in this psalm, and is spoken of in the third person
in the very next clause. The Psalmist, as a member of the body, calls it his, and the
same form of expression occurs elsewhere. See 1 Sam. v. 10, Isa. iii. 12, liii. 8, Micah
iii. 3.—For the meaning of the phrase, workers of iniquity, see above, on Ps. v. 6 (5).
5. There have they feared a fear, for God (is) in the righteous generation.
A later period is now present to his view. They who seemed incapable of
fear have now begun to be afraid at last. There, without any change of
place or outward situation. Where they before denied the being of a God,
even there they have begun to fear. See below, on Ps. xxx-vi. 13 (12).
The reason is given in the next clause. God, though denied by them,
exists and is present, and will manifest his presence by the protection and
deliverance of his people. Feared a fear, is a common Hebrew idiom for
greatly feared, were sore afraid. Generation, contemporary race, as in Ps. xii. 8 (7).
6. The plan (or counsel) of the sufferer (the afflicted) ye will shame, because
Jehovah is his refuge. The workers of iniquity are here addressed directly.
The sufferer is the persecuted innocent. Poor is too restricted a translation. See above, on Ps. ix. 13, 19 (12, 18). The plan or counsel is described in the last clause, to wit, that of trusting in Jehovah. This very
trust is an object of contempt to the wicked. Until they are made to fear
by the manifestation of God's presence with his people, they will continue
to despise it. The Psalmist here seems to revert to the interval which should precede
the divine interposition. As if he had said, You will one day be made to fear, but in
the mean time you will shame the counsel of the poor. Some, however, give vwybt
its usual sense of putting to shame, disappointing, and understand the clause as
an ironical concession: you may shame his counsel if you can.
7. Who will give out of Zion salvation to Israel, in Jehovah's returning the captivity of his people? Let Jacob exult, let Israel joy! The
phrase who will give is an idiomatic optative in Hebrew, equivalent to Oh
that with a verb, and Oh for with a noun in English. Oh for the salvation
of Israel! Or, Oh that the salvation of Israel (might come) out of Zion, as
the earthly residence of God and seat of the theocracy. The same local
designation is connected with the prayer or promise of divine help, in Ps.
iii. 5 (4), xx. 3 (2), cxxviii. 5, cxxxiv. 3. (Compare Ps. xxviii. 2). This
shews that the psalm does not belong to the period of the Babylonish exile,
and that the captivity referred to is not literal, but a metaphorical description of distress, as in the case of Job (xlii. 10). The same idea is elsewhere expressed by the figure of confinement and incarceration (Ps. cxlii.
8, Isa. xlii. 7, xlix. 9). The sense remains essentially the same in this case,
whether the verb return be transitive or intransitive. Most interpreters
prefer the former sense, and understand the clause to mean, "in Jehovah's
bringing back the captivity of his people." But as bUw in every other combination means to come back, and, like other verbs of motion, often governs
a noun of place directly (Exod. iv. 19, 20, Num. x. 36), it is better to understand the words as meaning that the salvation wished for would consist in
God's revisiting his captive or afflicted people. The sense is also admissible, if not necessary, in such places as Deut. xxx. 3, Ps. lxxxv. 5 (4),
Isa. lii. 8, Hos. vi. 11, Nah. ii. 3 (2). Let Jacob shout (for joy)! This
is both an exhortation and a wish, but the latter is the prominent idea, as
VER. 1, 2.]
PSALM XV.
63
the parallelism of the clauses shews. Oh that the salvation of Israel were
come! corresponds exactly to, May Jacob exult, may Israel be glad! The
common version is forbidden by the optative form (lgeyA) of the Hebrew verb,
and by the masoretic interpunction, which connects in the Lord's returning,
&c., not with what follows as a specification of time, but with what goes before as an explanatory clause. The whole may be paraphrased as follows:
"Oh that Jehovah, from his throne in Zion, would grant salvation to his
people, by revisiting them in their captive and forsaken state, and that
occasion of rejoicing might be thus afforded to the church! "Or more
closely thus: "Oh may Israel's salvation (soon) come forth from Zion, in
Jehovah's return to the captivity of his people! (In such a restoration)
may Jacob (soon have reason to) exult and Israel (to) triumph!"
PSALM XV.
THIS psalm teaches the necessity of moral purity as a condition of the
divine protection. It first propounds the question who shall be admitted
to God's household, and the privileges of its inmates, ver. 1. This is answered positively, ver. 2, and negatively, ver. 3; then positively again, ver.
4, and negatively, ver. 5. The last clause of the last verse winds up by
declaring, that the character just described shall experience the protection
tacitly referred to in the first verse. As the contrast exhibited in this psalm
and the fourteenth may account for its position in the Psalter, so its obvious
resemblance to the twenty-fourth makes it not improbable that their historical occasion was identical.
1. A Psalm by David. Jehovah, who shall sojourn in thy tent? who
shall dwell in thy hill of holiness? The holy hill is Zion, as in Ps. ii. 6;
the tent is the tabernacle which David pitched there for the ark, when he
removed it from Gibeon (2 Sam. vi. 17, 1 Chron. xv. 1, xvi. 1, 39,
2 Chron. i. 3-5). Both together signify the earthly residence of God; see
above on Ps. iii. 5 (4). The idea is not that of frequenting Zion as a place
of worship, but of dwelling there, as a guest or as an inmate of God's
family. The same figure for intimate communion with Jehovah, and participation of his favour, reappears in Ps. xxiii. 6, xxvii. 4, 5, xxiv. 3, lxi. 5,
lxv. 5 (4), lxxxiv. 5 (4). So too, in Eph. ii. 19, believers are described as
members of God's family (oi]kei?oi tou? qeou?).
2. Walking perfect, and doing right, and speaking truth, in his heart.
The Psalmist, speaking in behalf of God, here answers his own question.
The only person who can be admitted to domestic intercourse with God is
one walking perfect, &c. Walking is put for the habitual course of life
(see above, on Ps. i. 1). Perfect, complete, as to all essential features of
the character, without necessarily implying perfection in degree. The form
of expression seems to be borrowed from Gen. xvii. 1. A remarkably analogous expression is that used by Horace: integer vitae scelerisque purus.
The next phrase, doing right, practising rectitude, may be either a synonymous parallel to the first, or a specification under it, parallel to speaking
truth. The general idea of walking perfect is then resolved into the two
particular ideas of doing right and speaking truth. In his heart, i. e. sincerely, as opposed to outward show or hypocritical profession. This phrase
seems to qualify not merely what precedes, speaking truth, but the whole
description, as of one who sincerely and internally, as well as outwardly,
leads a blameless life by doing right and speaking truth.
64
PSALM XV.
[VER. 3-5.
3. (Who) hath not slandered with his tongue, (who) hath not done his
neighbour harm, and a scandal hath not taken up against his neighbour.
The positive description of the foregoing verse is now followed by a negative
one. (Compare Ps. i. 1, 2). The social virtues are insisted on, and their
opposites excluded, because they are apt to be neglected by hypocrites,
against whom this psalm is directed. The past tense of the verbs denotes
a character already marked and determined by the previous course of life.
The verb lgr seems strictly to denote the act of busy or officious tale-bearing.
There seems to be an allusion to Lev. xix. 16. With his tongue, literally
on his tongue, as we say to live on, i. e. by means of anything, an idiom
which occurs in Gen. xxvii. 40. (Compare Isa. xxxviii. 16.) The next
clause adds deed to word, as in the foregoing verse. Scandal, reproach,
defamatory accusation. The verb xWn is by some explained as meaning
to take up upon the lips (Ps. xvi. 4), and then to utter or pronounce.
Others give it the same sense as in Gen. xxxi. 17, where lf xWn means to
lift up upon, i. e. to burden. The idea then is, that he has not helped to
load his neighbour with reproach. Friend and neighbour does not mean
any other man, but one sustaining a peculiarly intimate relation, such as
that of the members of the chosen people to each other. See above, on Ps. xii. 3 (2).
4. Despised in his eyes (is) a reprobate, and the fearers of Jehovah he
will honour; he hath sworn to his own hurt, and will not change
The
Chaldee Paraphrase, followed by the Prayer Book version, makes the first
clause descriptive of humility. He is despised in his own eyes (and) rejected.
But the parallelism with the next clause shews that a contrast was designed
between his estimation of two opposite classes, and as one of these is those
who fear Jehovah, the other must be represented by sxmn, rejected, i. e.. by
Jehovah, reprobate. The future form, as usual, suggests the idea of a
present act repeated or continued in the future. He honours, and will still
persist in honouring, the fearers of Jehovah. The Septuagint and Vulgate
explain frhl to the neighbour, and some modern versions to the bad (man).
But the sense is determined by the obvious allusion to Lev. v. 4: "if a
soul swear to do evil (frhl) or to do good," i. e. whether to his own
advantage or the contrary. So here the phrase must mean "he hath sworn to injure
(himself)" not designedly, but so as to produce that effect. He will not change,
literally, exchange, i. e. substitute something else for what he has promised.
5. His silver he hath not given for usury, and a bribe against a guiltless
(person) hath not taken. Doing these (things), he shall not be moved for
ever. In Hebrew as in French, silver is put for money in general. There
is obvious allusion to the frequent prohibition in the Mosaic law, not of
lending money upon interest for commercial purposes, a practice then
unknown, but of usurious lending to the poor, and especially to poor
Israelites. See Exod. xxii. 24, Lev. xxv. 37, Deut. xxiii. 20, and compare
Prov. xxviii. 8, Ezek. xviii. 8. The taking of judicial bribes is also expressly
forbidden in Exod. xxiii. 8, Deut. xvi. 19, xxvii. 25. The masoretic interpunction of this sentence seems to be merely rhythmical or musical, as in
Ps. xi. 5. The words doing these cannot be separated from what follows
without destroying the sense. This last clause is an answer to the question
in ver. 1, but with a change of form, implying that admission to God's
household was itself security against all danger. Compare Ps. lv. 23 (22).
For the sense of FOm.x,, see above, on Ps. x. 6, xiii. 5.
VER. 1, 2.]
PSALM XVI.
65
PSALM XVI.
A SUFFERER in imminent danger of death, expresses his strong confidence
in God, ver. 1, as the sole source and author of his happiness, ver. 2, and
at the same time his attachment to God's people, ver. 3, his abhorrence of
all other gods, ver. 4, his acquiescence in God's dealings with him, ver. 5, 6,
and his assured hope of future safety and blessedness, ver. 7-11.
The psalm is appropriate to the whole class of pious sufferers, of which
Christ is the most illustrious representative. It is only in him, therefore,
that some parts of it can be said to have received their highest and complete fulfilment. This will be shewn more fully in the exposition of the
ninth and tenth verses.
1. Michtam of David. Preserve me, O God: for I have trusted in thee.
Some explain Michtam as a compound term; but it is most probably a
simple derivative of a verb meaning to hide, and signifies a mystery or
secret. The similar word Michtab in the title of Hezekiah's psalm (Isa.
xxxviii. 9) is probably an imitation of the form here used, or at least
involves an allusion to it. It seems to be substituted for the usual terms
song, psalm, &c., not only here but in the titles of Ps. It probably
indicates the depth of doctrinal and spiritual import in these sacred compositions. The derivation from a noun meaning gold is much less probable.
This verse may be said to contain the sum and substance of the whole
psalm, and is merely amplified in what follows. The prayer, Keep, save, or
preserve me, implies actual suffering or imminent danger, while the last
clause, I have trusted in thee, states the ground of his assured hope and
confident petition. The verb used is one that seems especially appropriate
to the act of seeking shelter under some overshadowing object. See Judges
ix. 15, Isa. xxx. 2, Ps. lvii. 2 (1), lxi. 5 (4). The preterite form implies
that this is no new or sudden act, but one performed already. He not only trusts
in God at present, but has trusted him before. Compare Ps. vii. 2 (1), xi. 1.
2. Thou hast said to Jehovah, The Lord (art) thou; my good (is) not
besides thee (or beyond thee). The verb in the first clause has the form of
a second person feminine, which some regard as an abbreviation of the first
person, Tir;maxA for yTIr;maxA and translate accordingly, I have said. But this
neither agrees so well with usage, nor affords so good a sense as the old
construction, which supplies as the object of address the same that is expressed in Ps. xlii. 6 (5), 12 (11), xliii. 5, Jer. iv. 19, Lam. iii. 24, 25. A
similar ellipsis is assumed by some in 1 Sam. xxiv. 11, and 2 Sam. xiii. 39.
By this peculiar form of speech the Psalmist calls upon himself to remember his own solemn acknowledgment of Jehovah as THE LORD or Supreme
God.—The obscure clause which follows has been very variously explained.
Some understand by good moral goodness, merit, and explain the whole to
mean, "My goodness is not such as to entitle me to thy regard." Most
interpreters, however, give to good its usual sense of good fortune, happiness
(see Ps. cvi. 5, Job ix. 25), and make the whole clause mean, "My happiness is not obligatory or incumbent on thee, thou art not bound to provide
for it;" or "My happiness is not above thee; I have no higher happiness
than thee." The true sense is probably afforded by a modification of this
last" My happiness is not beside thee, independent of, or separable from
thee," with allusion to the form of expression in the Hebrew of the first
commandment (Exod. xx. 3). The verse, then, contains a twofold acknow5
66
PSALM XVI.
[VER. 3, 4.
ledgment of God, as the universal sovereign, and as the only source of
individual enjoyment. Compare Ps. lxxiii. 25. That this recognition was
not a mere momentary act, but a habitual affection of the mind, seems to
be indicated by the Psalmist's appeal to his own soul as having made the
acknowledgment already, hitherto or heretofore.
3. To (or with) the saints who (are) in the land, and the nobles in whom
(is) all my delight. The construction of the first clause, and its connection with the preceding verse, are very obscure. Some make to synonymous with as to. "As to the saints who are in the land, and the nobles,
ia them is all my delight." Or, "as to the saints who are in the land,
they are the nobles in whom is all my delight." Others understand to the
saints and to Jehovah as correlative expressions. "To Jehovah I have
said thus; to the saints thus." Or, as the English Bible has it, "My
goodness extendeth not to thee, but to the saints," &c. The least violent
construction seems to be that which takes the preposition in its usual sense,
that of belonging to, as in the phrases, to David, to the chief Musician, and
in 1 Kings xv. 27. The meaning then is that the Psalmist's recognition of
Jehovah as The Lord, and as the only source of happiness, is not peculiar
to himself, but common to the whole body of the saints or holy ones. This
epithet denotes personal character, not as its primary meaning, but as the
effect of a peculiar relation to God, as the objects of his choice, set apart
from the rest of men for this very purpose; see Exod. xix. 6, Deut. vii. 6,
Ps. xxxiv. 10 (9), Dan. vii. 21, viii. 24, 1 Pet. ii. 9. The pre-eminence of
these over others, as the fruit of the divine election, is expressed by the
word nobles, which, like saints, denotes moral character only in an indirect
and secondary manner. The construction in this part of the verse is
strongly idiomatic; the literal translation is, the nobles of all my delight in
them. Under the old dispensation, the nobles or elect of God had their
local habitation in the land of promise. Hence they are here described as
the "saints or consecrated ones who are in the land," not in the earth,
which would be too indefinite and not so well suited to the context. As
thus explained, the whole verse may be paraphrased as follows: "This profession of my trust in God I make, not merely as an individual believer,
but as one belonging to the great body of the saints or consecrated ones,
the nobles of the human race, not such by any original or natural pre-eminence, but by the sovereign and distinguishing favour of Jehovah, whom they
trust as I do, and are therefore the rightful objects of my warmest love."
4. Many (or multiplied) shall be their sorrows—another they have purchased—I will not pour their drink-offering of blood, and will not take their
names upon my lips. With the happiness of those who like himself trust
the Lord, he contrasts the wretchedness of those who have chosen any other
object of supreme affection. The relative construction in the English version, "their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten," &c., gives the sense
correctly, but with more variation from the Hebrew idiom, which conveys the
same idea by means of short independent propositions. In the word translated
their sorrows, (MTAObc;.fa), there seems to be an allusion to a very similar form,
which would mean their idols (Mh,yBecaf;), as if to suggest that false gods are
mere troubles and vexations. Another means another god, in opposition to
the one true God, Jehovah, as in Isa. xlii. 8, xlviii. 11. The contrast
which is there expressed is here to be supplied from ver. 2 and 5, and from
the general antithesis, running through the context, between God and gods,
VER. 5-7.]
PSALM XVI.
67
not idols merely, but any created object of supreme affection. The verb
rhamA in its derived form means to hasten, and is so translated here by the
English and some other versions. But in the only other place where the
primitive verb occurs (Exod. xxii. 15), it means to endow a wife, or secure
her by the payment of a dowry, according to the ancient oriental custom.
The same usage of the verb exists in several of the cognate dialects. It
seems here to have the general sense of purchasing, by costly sacrifice or
self-denial, but with particular allusion to the conjugal relation which is
constantly described in Scripture as existing between worshippers and their
gods; see Hos. iii. 2, and viii. 9, Ezek. xvi. 33, 34. In the last clause he
abjures all communion with such idolaters. He will not join in their
impious services, nor even name the names of their divinities. Drink-offerings of blood, libations no less loathsome than if composed of human blood,
perhaps with an allusion to the frequent poetical description of wine as the
blood of the grape; see Gen. xlix. 11, Deut. xxxii. 14, Isa. lxiii. 3. To
take the name upon the lips is to stain or pollute them by pronouncing it.
Both here and in Hos. ii. 19, there is an obvious allusion to the solemn
prohibition of the law (Exod. xxiii. 13): "Make no mention of the name of
other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth." The pronoun their,
in this whole clause, refers not to the worshippers but to their divinities, as
comprehended under the collective term another.
5. Jehovah (is) my allotted portion and my cup; thou wilt enlarge my lot.
The other side of the contrast is again exhibited. The idea is, that in the
Lord the Psalmist has all that he can wish or hope for. The figures are
borrowed from the regular supply of food and drink. Compare Ps. xi. 6,
xxiii. 5. There may also be allusions to the language of the Pentateuch
in reference to the tribe of Levi, Deut. x. 9, xviii. 1, 2. The common
version of the last clause, thou upholdest my lot, is neither so grammatical
nor yields so good a sense as that above given, where enlarge implies both
honour and abundance, and the future form expresses confident assurance
that the favour now experienced will be continued.
6. The lines are fallen to me in pleasant things (or pleasant places); yea,
my heritage is goodly. The lines here spoken of are those used. in measuring and dividing land. Fallen, i. e. assigned, with or without allusion to
the lot, as the means of distribution. Compare Num. xxxiv. 2, Judges
xviii. 1. The idea of places is suggested by the context, or the plural adjective may have the abstract sense of pleasure, pleasures, like the cognate
form in Job xxxvi. 11. The particle (Jxa) which introduces the last clause
is more emphatic than the simple copulative and. It properly means also,
and implies that this clause contains something more than that before it.
The original construction of the last clause is, a heritage is goodly to me or
upon me, with allusion to the natural and common image of gifts or favours
as descending from above. The heritage or portion thus described is God
himself, but considered as including all desirable possessions.
7. I will bless Jehovah, who hath counselled me; also by night have my
reins prompted me. He praises God for having counselled or persuaded
him to choose this goodly heritage in preference to every other portion.
The second clause begins with yea or also, as in the preceding verse. It
here implies that, under the divine control just mentioned, his own habitual
dispositions tended to the same point. By night, literally nights, an idiom
not unknown in vulgar English. The plural may in this case be emphatic,
68
PSALM XVI.
[VER. 8-10.
meaning whole nights, all night long. The night is mentioned, both as a
time naturally favourable to reflection, and as skewing that the same subject occupied his thoughts by night as well as by day; see above on Ps. i. 2.
The reins are figuratively put like the heart, bowels, &c., for the affections; see above on Ps. vii. 10 (9). My reins have taught me, warned me,
prompted me, to utter the praise mentioned in the first clause, or to make
the choice described in ver. 1, 2, 5.
8. I have set Jehovah before me always: because (he is) at my right hand,
I shall not be moved. I have set him before me, i. e. I recognise his presence and confide in his protection. The actual expression of this confidence
is given in the other clause. The right hand is here mentioned, not as a
post of honour, but as that of a guard or defender. See below, on Ps. cix.
31, cx. 5, cxxi. 5.—I shall not be moved from my secure position. See
above, on Ps. x. 6, xv. 5. The whole verse is a varied repetition and
amplification of the last clause of ver. 1, I have trusted (or sheltered myself)
in thee.—The Septuagint version of this sentence is quoted in Acts h. 25,
with an express recognition of David as the author of the psalm.
9. Therefore has rejoiced my heart and exulted my glory; yea, my flesh
shall dwell in security (or confidence).—Therefore, because God is my ever
present helper. Glory seems here to mean his nobler part, his soul, but
not as wholly separate from the body, as appears from what follows. See
above, on Ps. vii. 6 (5).—Flesh may either mean the body, as distinguished
from the soul, or the whole person as including both. Compare Ps. lxiii.
2 (1), lxxxiv. 3 (2).—The idea of dwelling in security or confidence of safety
is borrowed from the Pentateuch. See Deut. xxxiii. 12, 28, and compare
Judges xviii. 7, Jer. xxiii. 6, xxxiii. 16. A similar allusion has been found
already in Ps. iv. 9 (8). The Septuagint version of the sentence, although
it substitutes tongue for glory, is substantially correct, and therefore retained
in Acts ii. 26.—The second clause is not simply parallel and equivalent
to the first, but is rather an actual performance of the duty there described.
Having there said that his heart did triumph in the certainty of God's
protection, he here proves the truth of his assertion, by professing his
assured hope that his whole person, not excepting his material part, shall
dwell in safety under that protection. This is applicable both to preservation from death and preservation in death, and may therefore without
violence be understood, in a lower sense, of David, who did die and see
corruption, but whose body is to rise again, as well as in a higher sense
of Christ, whose body, though it died, was raised again before it saw corruption.
10. For thou wilt not leave my soul to Hell; thou wilt not give thy Holy
One to see corruption. He now assigns the ground or reason of the confidence expressed in the preceding verse. "I am sure my soul and body
will be safe, because thou canst not, without ceasing to be God and my
God, give me up to the destroyer." He does not say leave in but to, i. e.
abandon to, give up to the dominion or possession of another. The same
Hebrew phrase occurs, with the same sense, in Lev. xix. 10, Job xxxix. 14,
and in Ps. xlix. 11 (10) below.—Hell is here to be taken in its wide old
English sense, as corresponding to the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades,
the invisible world or state of the dead. See above on Ps. vi. 6 (5), and
ix. 18 (17).—Give, i. e. permit, or more emphatically, give up, abandon,
which makes the parallelism of the clauses more exact. Thy Holy One, or
more exactly, thy favourite, the object of thy special favour. See above, on
Ps. iv. 4 (3). The textual reading is a plural form (jydysH), the singular
VER. 11.]
PSALM XVI.
69
(jdysH) being a marginal correction or keri. The Jews contend for
the former, and most Christians for the latter, which is favoured by
the oldest versions and retained in the New Testament. The essential
difference between the two is less than it may seem at first sight, since
even the singular is really collective, and includes the whole class of God's
chosen and favoured ones, of whom Christ is the head and representative.
—To see, i. e. to experience or undergo corruption. Compare the phrase
to see death, Luke ii. 26.—It has been disputed whether tHawa is derived
from HaUw, and means a pit, or from tHawA, and means corruption. Both
allegations are probably true, the antecedent improbability of such a double
sense and derivation being counterbalanced by the clear analogy of tHan
which is of a different sense and gender, as derived from tHanA and HaUn. The
use of this equivocal expression may have been intentional, in order to
make it applicable both to David and to Christ. (See above, on the preceding verse.) To both, the words contain a promise of deliverance from
death, but in the case of Christ with a specific reference to his actual escape
from the corruption which is otherwise inseparable from dissolution. Believers in general are saved from the perpetual dominion of death, but Christ
was saved even from the first approach of putrefaction. In this peculiar
and most pregnant sense the words are applied to Christ exclusively by
two apostles, and in that sense declared to be inapplicable to David. (Acts
ii. 29-31, xiii. 35-37.) Their reasoning would utterly forbid the application to any lower subject, were it not for the ambiguity or twofold meaning
of the Hebrew word, which cannot therefore be explained away without
embarrassing the interpretation of this signal prophecy.
11. Thou wilt teach me the way of life, fulness of joy with thy face (or
presence), pleasures in thy right hand for ever. He trusts God not only
for deliverance from death, but for guidance in the way to life, or blessed
immortality. (Compare Prov. ii. 19.) The Hebrew verb is causative, and
means thou wilt make me know, point out, or shew to me. Fulness, satiety,
or rather satisfaction, in its strongest sense, including the ideas of contentment and abundance. The plural, joys, denotes not only richness but
variety. The next phrase may simply mean before thy face or in thy presence.
But it will also bear a stronger sense, and represent God's presence or the
sight of him, not merely as the place, but the source of enjoyment. See
above, on Ps. iv. 7 (6), and compare Ps. xvii. 15, lxxx. 4 (3). So in the
last clause, the idea is not merely at thy right hand as a place of honour
and of safety, but in thy right hand as the depository of eternal joys, or
with thy right hand, as the instrument by which they are dispensed. See
below, on Ps. xvii. 7.—This last clause is omitted in Peter's citation of the
passage, Acts 27, no doubt because it is a mere poetical reiteration of
the one before it, which is itself only added to complete the period, and not
because it was essential to the apostle's purpose. That purpose was accomplished by applying the two preceding verses to our Saviour, not exclusively
indeed, but by way of eminence and in a peculiar sense, which we learn,
however, from Acts ii. 30, 31, was actually present to the mind of the
inspired Psalmist. The same argumentative interpretation of the prophecy
is given by Paul in Acts xiii. 35-37.
70
PSALM XVII.
[VER. 1-3.
PSALM XVII.
A SUFFERER, in imminent danger, professes his sincere conformity to God's
will, and invokes his favour and protection, ver. 1-5. This petition is enforced by an appeal to former mercies, ver. 6, 7, and a description of the
wickedness of his enemies, ver. 8-12, whose character and spirit he contrasts with his own, ver. 13-15.
The position of this psalm in the collection seems to have been determined
by the resemblance of its subject, tone, and diction, to those of the sixteenth, with which it may be said to form a pair or double psalm, like the
first and second, third and fourth, ninth and tenth, &c.
1. A Prayer. By David. Hear, O Jehovah, the right, hearken to my
cry, give ear to my prayer not with lips of deceit. This psalm is called a
prayer because petition is its burden, its characteristic feature, its essential
element. By David, literally, to David, i. e. belonging to him as its author.
—The right, righteousness or justice in the abstract, here put for a just
cause, or perhaps for one who is in the right, who has justice on his side.
The prayer that God will hear the right implies that no appeal is made to
partiality or privilege, but merely to the merits of the case. The righteousness claimed is not merely that of the cause but that of the person, not
inherent but derived from the imputed righteousness of faith according to
the doctrine of the Old as well as the New Testament. The quality alleged
is not that of sinless perfection but that of sincere conformity to the divine
will. The last clause, not with lips of deceit, applies to all that goes before,
and represents sincerity as necessary to acceptance. The original expression is still stronger, and conveys much more than a negative. It does not
merely say, not with deceitful lips, but more positively with lips not deceitful.
2. From before thee my judgment shall come forth; thine eyes shall behold equities. This sentence really involves a prayer, but in form it is the.
expression of a confident hope. From before thee, from thy presence, thy
tribunal. My judgment, my acquittal, vindication; or my justice, i. e. my
just cause, my cause considered as a just one. Shall come forth, to the
view of others, shall be seen and recognised in its true character, as being
what it is. The reason is, because God's judgments are infallible. His
eyes cannot fail to see innocence or righteousness where it exists. The
plural, rectitudes or equities, is an emphatic abstract. See above, on the
parallel passage, Ps. xi. 7.
3. Thou hast tried my heart, hast visited (me) by night, hast assayed
me; thou wilt not find; my mouth shall not exceed my thought. He
still appeals to God as the judge and witness of his own sincerity. The
preterites represent the process as no new one, although still continued in
the present. Visited for the purpose of examination or inspection, in which
specific sense the English verb is often used. By night, as the time when
men's thoughts are least under restraint, and when the evil, if there be any,
is most certain of detection. Purged me, as the purity of metals is tested
by fire, to which process the Hebrew word is specially applied. Thou shalt
not find any thing at variance with the sincerity of this profession.—The
future form implies that the investigation is to be continued, but without
any change in the result. —The last clause is doubtful and obscure. The
common version, I am purposed (that) my mouth shall not trangress, agrees
well enough with the form of the words, but is forbidden by the accents.
The reversed construction, my thoughts shall not exceed my mouth (or speech),
VER. 4-8.]
PSALM XVII.
71
is ungrammatical; nor does either of theseconstructions suit the context
so well as the first, which makes the clause a renewed profession of sincerity.
4. (As) to the works of man, by the word of thy lips I have kept the paths
of the violent (trangressor.) The works of man are the sinful courses to
which man is naturally prone. The generic term man (MdAxA) is often used
in reference to the sinful infirmities of human nature. See 1 Sam. xxiv.
10 (9), Hos. vi. 7, Job xxxi. 33. The word of God's lips is the word
uttered by him, with particular reference to his precepts or commands, but
including his entire revelation. By this word, by means of it as an instrument, and in reliance on it as an authority.—The verb (rmawA) translated
kept properly means watched, and is elsewhere applied to the observance of
a rule, but in this place seems to mean watched for the purpose of avoiding, as we say in English to keep away from or keep out of danger.—From
the verb (CraPA) to break forth, elsewhere applied to gross iniquities (Hos.
iv. 2.) comes the adjective (CyriPA) violent, outrageous, here used as an
epithet of the flagrant sinner.
5. My steps have laid hold of thy paths, my feet have not swerved. His
profession of integrity is still continued. The first verb is in the infinitive form, but determined by the preterites before and after. The English language does not furnish equivalents to the parallel terms in Hebrew,
both which denote footsteps. The common version violates the context by
converting the first clause into a prayer, which would here be out of place.
6. I have invoked thee because thou wilt answer me, O God! Incline thine
ear to me, hear my speech. The alternation of the tenses is significant. 'I
have invoked thee heretofore, and do so still, because I know that thou wilt
hear me." It is needless to observe how much the sentence is enfeebled by
the change of either to the present.—Thou wilt hear me, in the pregnant
sense of hearing graciously or answering a prayer. See above, on Ps. iii.
5 (4). —O (mighty) God! The divine name here used is the one denoting
God's omnipotence. See above, Ps. v. 5 (4), vii. 12 (11), x. 11, 12. xvi. 1.
—My speech, what I say, hrAm;xi from rmaxA to say.
7. Distinguish thy mercies, (O thou) saving those trusting, from those
rising up, with thy right hand. The first verb is the same that occurs in
Ps. iv, 4 (3.) Here, as there, it means to set apart, or single out, but
with particular reference to extraordinary favours, implying an unusual necessity. Such mercy is described as perfectly in keeping with the divine
mode of action in such cases.—Trusting, seeking refuge, i. e. in God. See
above, on Ps. xvi. 1. The same ellipsis may be assumed after rising up,
or we may supply against them.—With thy right hand, as the instrument
of deliverance. Compare Ps. xvi. 11. These words must be connected in
construction with saving.
8. Keep me as the apple of the eye, in the shadow of thy wings thou wilt
hide me. The first verb means to watch over, guard, preserve with care.
See above, on ver. 4, where it occurs in a figurative application. The pupil
or apple of the eye is a proverbial type of that which is most precious and
most easily injured, and which therefore has a double claim to sedulous
protection. The original phrase is strongly idiomatic, exhibiting what seems
to be a singular confusion of the genders. Its literal meaning is, supplying
the articles omitted by poetic licence, the man (or the little man, or the manlike part) the daughter of the eye. The first word has reference to the image
72
PSALM XVII.
[VER. 9-12.
reflected in the pupil, which is then described, as belonging to the eye, by
an oriental idiom which uses personal relations, son, daughter, &c., to
denote the mutual relations even of inanimate objects. The comparison
is borrowed from Deut. xxxii. 10, where it is followed by another with the
eagle's treatment of her young, to which there seems to be allusion in the
last clause of the verse before us. The imperative form of the first verb is
no reason for departing from the future form of the other, which is much
more expressive. What he asks in one clause he expresses his assured hope
of obtaining in the other.
9. From the face of the wicked who have wasted me; mine enemies to the
soul will surround me. The preceding sentence is continued, with a more
particular description of the objects of his dread. "Thou wilt hide me
from the face, sight, or presence of the wicked." Wasted, desolated, destroyed, with allusion perhaps to the siege of a town or the invasion of a
country. The same term is applied to a dead man in Judges v. 27. The
enemies of the last clause are identical with the wicked of the first. Enemies in soul may mean cordial haters, or enemies who seek the soul or life,
called deadly enemies in the English version. Or wp,n,B;, may be construed
with the verb: surround me eagerly (with craving appetite); or surround me
against my soul or life, i. e. with a view to take it.—The future form suggests that the danger which the first clause had described as past, was still
present, and likely to continue. As if he had said, "from my wicked foes
who have already wasted me, and will no doubt still continue to surround
me." In this description present danger is included, whereas if we substitute
the present form, we lose the obvious allusion to the future and the past.
10. Their fat they have closed; (with) their mouth they have spoken in
pride. The first clause, though not exactly rendered, is correctly paraphrased in the English Bible; they are enclosed in their own fat. This is
no uncommon metaphor in Scripture for moral and spiritual insensibility;
see Deut. xxxii. 15, Job xv. 27, Ps. lxxiii. 7, cxix. 70. The literal sense
of the expressions derives some illustration from Judg. iii. 22. Some give
to fat the specific sense of heart, which is said to have in Arabic, "their heart
they have closed." But the other explanation yields the same sense in a
more emphatic form, and with closer conformity to Hebrew usage.
11. In our footsteps now have they surrounded us; their eyes they will set,
to go astray in the land. The meaning of the first words, in our footsteps,
seems to be, wherever we go. Compare Ps. cxxxix. 3, 5. For the masoretic reading us, the text has me, which, although harsher, amounts to the
same thing, as the sufferer is an ideal person respecting many real ones.
The parallel clauses exhibit the usual combination of the preterite and
future forms, implying that what had been done was likely to be still continued. They fix their eyes, upon this as the end at which they aim. To
go astray or turn aside, i. e. from the way of God's commandments, to which
the Psalmist, in ver. 5, had declared his own adherence. The translations
bowing down and casting down are less in accordance with the context and
with the usage of the Hebrew verb, which is constantly employed to express
departure from God and aberration from the path of duty; see 1 Kings xi.
9, Job xxxi. 7, Ps. xliv. 19 (18), cxix. 51, 157. To the earth, or in the earth,
although grammatical, affords a less appropriate sense than in the land, i. e.
the holy land or land of promise, the local habitation of God's people under
the old economy; see above on Ps. xvi. 3, and compare Isaiah xxvi. 10.
12. His likeness (is) as a lion; he is craving to tear; and as a young
VER. 13-15.]
PSALM XVII.
73
lion sitting in secret places. The singular suffix refers to the enemy as an
ideal person. The future (JOsk;yi) means that he is just about to feel or
gratify the appetite for blood. To tear in pieces, as a wild beast does his
prey before devouring it.—Sitting, lurking, lying in wait, with special reference to the patient promptness of the wild beast in such cases.—The comparison is the same as in Ps. x. 8-10.
13. Arise, Jehovah, go before his face, make him bow, save my soul from
the wicked (with) thy sword. On the meaning of the prayer that God would
arise, see above on Ps. iii. 8 (7).—Go before his face: the same Hebrew
phrase occurs below (Ps. xcv. 2), in the sense of coming into one's
presence. Here the context gives it the more emphatic sense of meeting,
encountering, withstanding. Make him bend or bow, as the conquered bows
beneath the conqueror.—The construction of thy sword seems to be the
same with that of their mouth in ver. 10. The Septuagint puts thy sword
in apposition with my soul, the Vulgate with the word immediately preceding, men (who are) thy sword, as the Assyrian is said to be the rod in God's
hand (Isa. x. 5). But such a representation of the enemy as God's chosen
instruments, instead of enforcing, would enfeeble the petition. The verb
translated save is a causative strictly meaning make to escape.
14. From men (with) thy hand, from the world; their portion is in (this)
life, and with thy hoard thou wilt fill their belly; they shall have enough of
sons, and leave their residue to their babes. All the parts of this obscure
verse have been variously explained. As in the preceding verse, some here
read men (which are) thy hand, i. e. the instrument of thy wrath. The difficult expression dl,H,me is by some understood as a description of their character and spirit—men of the world—men who belong to it, and whose hearts
are set upon it. Others give dl,H, its primary meaning of duration, and
make the phrase descriptive of prosperity—men of duration or perpetuity—
who not only prosper now, but have long done so, and seem likely to continue. The simplest construction is that given in the prayer-book version,
which takes the proposition in the same sense before both nouns—"from
the men, I say, and from the evil world." "World is then simply a collective equivalent to the plural men. This translation of the former word
is justified by the analogy of Ps. xlix. 2 (1).—Life is by some understood
to mean a life of ease or pleasure; but this is far less natural than the obvious sense of this life, this present state as distinguished from futurity. The
rest of the verse shews that their desires have not been disappointed. To
the eye of sense God sometimes seems to have reserved his choichest gifts
for the ungodly. Thy hidden (treasure), i. e. hoarded, carefully secreted.
Fill their belly, satisfy their appetite. The future form implies that the
state of things described is likely to continue.—The next clause may be also
rendered: (their) sons shall be satisfied, and leave their residue to their babes.
This would be a strong description of prosperity continued from generation
to generation. According to the version before given, the men of the world
are represented as having their largest wishes gratified, not only in the number but the prosperous condition of their children; see Ps. cxxvii. 3, cxxviii.
3,4, Job xxi. 11. The whole is only a description of things as they seem
to man, before God's judgments interpose to change them.
15. I in righteousness shall see thy face; I shall be satisfied in awaking
with thy appearance. The pronoun expressed at the beginning of the sentence is emphatic. I, in opposition to the men described in the preceding
74
PSALM XVII.
[VER. 15.
verse. "They may rejoice in richer providential gifts, and be satisfied with
what they thus possess. But I enjoy what they do not, the sense of acceptance in thy sight, righteousness, justification, recognition as a righteous
person." The ambiguity of construction in the last clause is the same both
in Hebrew and in English. The preposition with may connect what follows
either with awaking or with satisfied. Thus the prayer-book version reads,
"And when I awake up after thy likeness, I shall be satisfied with it;" but
the authorised version: "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." The latter construction is the one required by the accents, and preferred by most interpreters, the rather as the last word does not mean resemblance in the abstract, but form, shape, or visible appearance, Exod. xx. 4,
Num. xii. 8, Deut. iv. 16, 23, 25, Job iv. 16. The idea here suggested is
the sight of thee, exactly corresponding to behold thy face, in the parallel
clause.—In awaking, or when I shall awake, is understood by some to
mean, when I awake to-morrow, and from this expression they infer that the
psalm was originally composed, and intended to be used, as an evening-song
or prayer. See above on Ps. iii. 6 (5), iv. 9 (8), v. 4 (3). Others give
the phrase the same sense but a wider application; in awaking, i. e. whenever I awake. As if he had said, while the men of the world think day and
night of their possessions and their pleasures, I rejoice, whenever I awake,
in the sight of God's reconciled countenance and the consciousness of friendship with him. A third interpretation puts a still higher sense upon the
phrase as referring to the act of awaking from the sleep of death. But
this excludes too much from view the enjoyment of God's favour and protection even here, which is the burden of the whole prayer. If the hope of
future blessedness had been enough, the previous petitions would have been
superfluous. The utmost that can be conceded to this view of the passage
is that, by a natural association, what is here said of awaking out of sleep
in this life may be extended to that great awaking which awaits us all hereafter. The same state of mind and heart which enables a man now to be
contented with the partial views which he enjoys of God will prepare him
to be satisfied hereafter with the beatific vision through eternity.
PSALM XVIII.
THIS psalm consists of five unequal parts. In the first, David announces
his desire to praise God for his wonderful deliverances, ver. 2-4 (1-3).
In the second, these are described, not in historical form, but by the use of
the strongest poetical figures, ver. 5-20 (4-19). In the third, he declares
them to have been acts of righteousness as well as mercy, and in strict
accordance with the general laws of the divine administration, ver. 21-28
(20-27). In the fourth, he goes again into particulars, but less in the way
of recollection than of anticipation, founded both on what he has experienced
and on what God has promised, ver. 29-46 (28-45). In the fifth, this
change of form is accounted for by summing up the promises referred
to, and applying them not merely to David as an individual, but to his
posterity for ever, thus including Christ, and shewing the whole composition
to be one of those Messianic psalms, in which he is the principal subject of
the prophecy, though not the only one, nor even the one nearest to the eye
of the observer, ver. 46-51 (45-50).
1. To the Chief Musician. By a Servant of Jehovah. By David, who
spake unto Jehovah the words of this song, in the day Jehovah freed him
VER. 1, 2.]
PSALM XVIII.
75
from the hand of all his foes and from the hand of Saul. The first clause
of the title shews, in this as in other cases, that the composition was
designed from the beginning to be used in the public worship of the ancient
church, and has reference therefore to the experience of the writer, not as a
private person, but as an eminent servant of the Lord, i. e. one entrusted
with the execution of his purposes, as an instrument or agent. The expressions, spake unto Jehovah, &c., are borrowed from Exod. xv. 1, and Deut.
xxxi. 30. This is the more observable, because the psalm contains obvious
allusions to the song of Moses in Deut. ch. xxxii. An analogous case is
found in 2 Sam. xxiii. 1, where the form of expression is evidently borrowed
from Num. xxiv. 3.—The repetition of hand is not found in the original,
where the first word (JKa) properly denotes the palm or inside of the hand,
but is poetically used as an equivalent to dyA. The hand is a common figure
for power and possession. This whole clause bears a strong analogy to
Exod. xviii. 10, where "out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the
hand of Pharaoh" corresponds exactly to "out of the hand of all his foes
and out of the hand of Saul," i. e. and especially of Saul. Compare "Judah
and Jerusalem," Isa. i. 1; "the land and Jericho," Josh. ii. 1. This
form of expression does not imply that Saul was the last of his enemies,
but rather that he was the first, both in time and in importance, so that he
might be considered equal to all the others put together. And accordingly
we find their idea carried out in the structure of this psalm, one half of
which seems to relate especially to Saul, and the remainder to his other
enemies. The general expressions of this title shew that the psalm was
not occasioned by any particular event, but by a retrospect of all the deliverances from persecution which the writer had experienced.
2 (1). And said, I will love thee, Jehovah, my strength! The sentence is
continued from the foregoing verse, who sang unto the Lord . . . and
said. The future form, I will love, represents it as a permanent affection,
and expresses a fixed purpose. I not only love thee now, but am resolved
to do so for ever. The verb itself occurs nowhere else in its primitive
form, but often in one of its derived forms, to express the compassionate
regard of a superior to an inferior. The simple form is here used to denote
the reciprocal affection of the inferior party. From its etymology the verb
seems to express the strongest and most intimate attachment, being properly
expressive of storgh>> or parental love. The noun translated strength is also peculiar to
this passage, though its root and cognate forms are very common. Combined with one of
the divine names, it constitutes the name Hezekiah, which may have been suggested by
the verse before us. My strength, i. e. the giver of my strength or the supplier of its
deficiencies, the substitute for my strength, my protector and deliverer.
3 (2). Jehovah (is) my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my o
(is) my rock, I will trust in him; my shield and my horn of salvation, my
height (or high place). By this accumulation of descriptive epithets, the
Psalmist represents God as the object of his trust and his protector. The
first two figures, my rock and my fortress, contain an allusion to the physical
structure of the Holy Land, as well as to David's personal experience. The
caves and fissures of the rocks, with which the land abounded, had often
afforded him shelter and concealment when pursued by Saul. See Judges
vi. 2, 1 Sam. xxiv. 3, 2 Sam. v. 7. The literal expression, my deliverer,
seems to be added as an explanation of the figures which precede. My
God may also be explained as one of the descriptive terms; but it seems
76
PSALM XVIII.
[VER. 3-5.
more natural to make it the subject of a new proposition, equivalent and
parallel to that in the first clause. Here again we are obliged to use the
same English word as a translation of two different words in Hebrew. As
the rock (flas,) of the first clause suggests the idea of concealment and
security, so the rock (rUc) of the second clause suggests that of strength
and immobility. The figure is borrowed from Deut. xxxii. 4, and reappears
in Ps. xcii. 16 (15). Compare Isaiah's phrase, a rock of ages (Isa. xxvi. 4),
and Jacob's phrase, the stone of Israel (Gen. xlix. 24), where stone, like
rock in the clause before us, denotes not the place but the material, not a
stone, but stone, as one of the hardest and least mutable substances with
which we are acquainted, and therefore an appropriate figure for combined
immutability and strength. For the figurative use of shield in such connections, see above on Ps. iii. 4 (3). The next phrase has allusion to the
defensive habits of horned animals. The figure seems to be borrowed from
Deut xxxiii. 17. (Compare 1 Sam. 10, Job. xvi. 15.) My horn of
salvation may be understood to mean, my horn, to wit, my salvation, so
that the second noun is explanatory of the first. More probably, however,
the expression means the horn that saves me, by repelling or destroying all
my enemies. In Luke i. 69, the same phrase is applied to Christ by
Zacharias. The last term in the description belongs to the same class with
the first, and was probably suggested by the Psalmist's early wanderings
among the rocks and caverns of Judea. The Hebrew word properly denotes
a place so high as to be beyond the reach of danger. See above, on Ps.
ix. 10 (9), where the same word is twice used in the same sense and
figurative application.
4 (3). To be praised I will call Jehovah, and from my enemies I shall be
saved. "I will invoke God as a being worthy of all praise." The first
Hebrew word, which has the force of a future passive participle, is a standing epithet of Jehovah in the lyrical style of the Old Testament. See Ps.
xlviii. 2 (1), xcvi. 4, cxiii. 3, cxlv. 3, 1 Chron. xvi. 25. The connection of
the clauses is, that the believing invocation of Jehovah in his true character,
and with a just appreciation of his excellence, must needs be followed by
the experience of his favour. They who cry and are not heard, as we read
in ver. 42 (41) below, cry indeed to Jehovah, but they do not invoke him
as the one to be praised, they do not see him as he is, and cannot pray to him as
they ought. They ask and receive not, because they ask amiss (James iv. 3).
5 (4). The bands of death have enclosed me, and the streams of worthlessness (or Belial) will (still) affright me From the general acknowledgment
contained in ver. 1-4, he proceeds to a more particular description of his
danger. By bands we are probably to understand the cordage of a net,
such as fowlers spread for birds. This is a favourite metaphor with David
to denote dangers, and particularly those of an insidious and complicated
kind. See below, Ps. cxvi. 3. The word Belial properly means worthless,
good for nothing. The reference is here to wicked men, whose number and
violence are indicated by the figure of torrents, overflowing streams. The
use of the future in the last clause shews that the writer, as in many other
cases, takes his position in the midst of the event, and views it as partly
past and partly future. This bold assumption of an ideal situation greatly
adds to the life and vividness of the description.
6 (5). The bands of hell surrounded me, the snares of death encountered
me. This verse merely repeats and amplifies the first clause of the fifth,
VER. 6-9.]
PSALM XVIII.
77
Hell, in the wide old English sense, is a poetical equivalent to death. See
above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5). The explicit mention of snares in the last clause
confirms the explanation before given of bands. Encountered, met me,
crossed my path. The sense prevented or anticipated does not suit the context, and that of surprised is not sufficiently justified by usage. See above,
on Ps. xvii. 13.
7 (6). In my distress I will invoke Jehovah, and to my God will cry; he
will hear from his palace my voice, and my prayer before him will come,
into his ears. The verbs are in the future, because they express the feelings
not of one looking back upon the danger as already past, but of one actually
implicated in it. See above, on ver. 5 (4). The literal meaning of the
words is, in distress to me. Compare the phrase, at times in distress, Ps.
ix. 10 (9), x. 1. My God implies a covenant relation and a hope of
audience founded on it. The verb translated cry is specially appropriated
to a cry for help. His palace here means heaven, as God's royal residence.
See above, on Ps. xi. 4. Into his ears is a kind of after-thought, designed
to strengthen the preceding expression. It shall not only reach his presence,
but, as it were, shall penetrate his ears. The whole expresses an assured hope
of being heard, and is really tantamount to an assertion that he was heard.
8 (7). Then did the earth shake and quake, and the foundations of the
mountains trembled and were shaken because he was angry. The idea of
succession expressed by the English then is conveyed in Hebrew by the
form of the verb. The resemblance, in form and sound, of shake and quake,
corresponds to that of the original verbs (wfar;Tiva wfaG;Tiva). A reflexive or
emphatic passive form of the first verb appears in the second clause. The
closing words of this clause strictly mean because it was inflamed (or enkindled) to him with an ellipsis of the noun (Jxa) anger. The full construction may be found in Deut. vi. 15, and Ps. cxxiv. 3. The phrase foundations of the mountains is copied from Deut. xxxii. 22.
9 (8). There went up smoke in his wrath, and fire from his mouth devours:
coals are kindled from it. Smoke and fire are mentioned as natural concomitants and parallel figures, both denoting anger, and suggested by the
phrase it was inflamed to him in the preceding verse. Compare Deut.
xxxii. 22, xxix. 19 (20), Ps. xxiv. 1. The translation nostrils rests on a
confusion of two collateral derivatives from the verb to breathe. (See my
note on Isa. xlviii. 9.) Nor is this sense required by the parallelism, unless
mouth and nose must always go together. There seems to be some allusion
to the fire and smoke at Sinai, Exod. xix. 18. From it may have reference
to fire; but the nearest antecedent is his mouth. Compare Job xli. 11-13
(19-21). There is no need of supplying any object with devours; the idea
is that of a devouring fire, i. e. one capable of consuming whatever combustible material it may meet with.
10 (9). So he bowed the heavens and came down, and gloom (was) under
his feet. The scene seems here to be transferred from heaven to earth,
where the psalmist sees not only the divine operation but the personal presence of Jehovah. The word so, familiarly employed in English to continue
a narrative, here represents the vau conversive of the Hebrew. The word
translated gloom is not the usual term for darkness, but a poetical expression specially applied to dense clouds and vapours. The expression seems
to be derived from Deut. v. 22. Compare with this clause, Exod. xix. 16,
and with the first, Isa. lxiii. 19 (lxiv. 1).
78
PSALM XVIII.
[VER. 10-15.
11 (10). And he rode on a cherub and flew, and soared on the wings of a
wind. The cherubim of the Mosaic system were visible representations of
the whole class of creatures superior to man. The singular form cherub
seems to be used here to convey the indefinite idea of a superhuman but
created being. The whole verse is a poetical description of God's intervention, as a scene presented to the senses. As earthly kings are carried by
inferior animals, so the heavenly king is here described as borne through
the air in his descent by beings intermediate between himself and man.
The word soared, in the second clause, is used to represent a poetical term
in the original borrowed from Deut. xxviii. 49. With the whole verse compare Ps. lxviii. 18 (17), and civ. 3.
12 (11). (And) set darkness (as) his covert about him, his shelter, darkness of waters, clouds of the skies, This concealment suggests the idea of a
brightness insupportable by mortal sight. Compare Deut. iv. 11, Job
xxxvi. 29, Ps. xcvii. 2. Darkness of waters does not mean dark waters, but
watery darkness, a beautiful description of clouds charged with rain. The
two nouns in the last clause both mean clouds, but the second is used only
in the plural, and seems properly to designate the whole body of vapours
constituting the visible heavens or sky. A somewhat similar combination
occurs in Exod. xix. 9.
13 (12). From the blaze before him his clouds passed—hail and coals of
fire. The dark clouds which enveloped him are now described as penetrated by the light within. Passed, i. e. passed away, were dispelled. The
last clause may be construed as an exclamation such as an eye-witness
might have uttered. The combination is borrowed from Exod. ix. 24.
(Compare Ps. lxxviii. 47, 48.) Hail, as an instrument of the divine vengeance, is also mentioned in Josh. x. 11.
14 (13). Then thundered in the heavens Jehovah, and the Highest gave
his voice—hail and coals of fire. The second clause is a poetical repetition of the first. "The Most High gave his voice," means in this connection neither more nor less than that he "thundered in the heavens."
Though visibly present upon earth he is described as still in heaven. Compare Gen. xi. 5, 7; xviii. 21; John iii. 13. The last clause may be construed as in ver. 13, or made dependent on the verb gave, as in Exod. ix.
23: "Jehovah gave thunder and hail." This clause is repeated because
the hail and lightning were not merely terrific circumstances, but appointed
instruments of vengeance and weapons of destruction.
15 (14). Then sent he his arrows and scattered them, and shot forth,
lightnings and confounded them. The lightnings of the last clause may be
understood as explaining the arrows of the first. Instead of shot forth lightnings some translate and lightnings much, i. e. many, in which sense the
Hebrew word (brA) occurs sometimes elsewhere (Exod. xix. 21, 1 Sam. xiv. 6,
Num. xxvi. 54). In several other places it seems to mean enough or too
much (Gen. xlv. 28, Exod. ix. 28, Num. xvi. 3, 7, Deut. i. 6). If either of
these constructions is adopted, the verb sent must be repeated from the other
clause. The version first given, shot, is justified by the analogy of Gen.
xlix. 23. The last verb in the sentence is a military term denoting the confusion of an army produced by a surprise or sudden panic; see Exod. xiv. 24,
xxiii. 27, Josh. x. 10, and with the whole verse compare Ps. cxliv. 6.
16 (15). Then were seen the channels of water and uncovered the foundations of the world, at thy rebuke, Jehovah, at the blast of the breath of thy
wrath. The idea meant to be conveyed by this poetical description is that
VER. 16-19.]
PSALM XVIII.
79
of sudden and complete subversion, the turning of the whole earth upside
down. The language is not designed to be exactly expressive of any real
physical change whatever. From, or at thy rebuke, i. e. after it and in consequence of it. The breath of thy wrath, thy angry breath, might also be
rendered, the wind of thy wrath, thy angry or tempestuous wind. That the
Hebrew words do not mean thy nose or nostrils, see above, on ver. 9 (8).
Some suppose an allusion, in the figures of this verse, to the floods of worthlessness in ver 5 (4), and the bands of hell in ver. 6 (5).
17 (16). He will send from, above, he will take me, he will draw me out
of many waters. Here again the writer seems to take his stand between the
inception and the consummation of the great deliverance, and to speak just
as he might have spoken while it was in progress. "All this he has done
in preparation, and now he is about to send," &c. This seems to be a more
satisfactory explanation of the future forms than to make them simple
presents, and still more than to make them preterites, which is wholly
arbitrary and ungrammatical, although the acts described by these futures
were in fact past al the time of composition. To send from above in our
idiom means to send a messenger; but in Hebrew this verb is the one used
with hand, where we say stretch out, e. g. in the parallel passage Ps. cxliv. 7.
(See also Gen. viii. 9, xlviii. 14). The noun, however, is sometimes omitted,
and the verb used absolutely to express the sense of the whole phrase, as in
2 Sam. vi. 6, Ps. lvii. 4 (3). From above, from on high, from the height
or high place, i. e. heaven, the place of God's manifested presence. There
is peculiar beauty in the word translated draw, which is the root of the name
Moses, and occurs, besides the place before us, only in the explanation of
that name recorded by himself, Exod. ii. 10. The choice of this unusual
expression here involves an obvious allusion both to the historical fact and
the typical meaning of the deliverance of Moses, and a kind of claim upon
the part of David to be regarded as another Moses.
18 (17). He will free me from my enemy (because he is) strong, and from
my haters, because they are mightier than I. The futures are to be explained
as in the verse preceding. The enemy here mentioned is an ideal person,
representing a whole class, of whom Saul was the chief representative.
The idiomatic phrase, my enemy strong, may be understood as simply meaning my strong enemy; but the true construction seems to be indicated by
the parallelism. His own weakness and the power of his enemies is given
as a reason for the divine interposition.
19 (18). They will encounter me in the day of my calamity; and Jehovah
has been for a stay to me. The first clause seems to express a belief that
his trials from this quarter are not ended, while the other appeals to past
deliverances as a ground of confidence that God will still sustain him. Most
interpreters, however, make the future and preterite forms of this verse
perfectly equivalent. "They encountered me in the day of my calamity,
and the Lord was for a stay to me." As to the meaning of the first
verb, see above, on ver. 6 (5). It is not improbable that David here alludes to his
sufferings in early life when fleeing before Saul; see above on ver. 3 (2).
20 (19). And brought me out into the wide place; he will save me because
he delights in me. The construction is continued from the foregoing sentence. As confinement or pressure is a common figure for distress, so relief
from it is often represented as enlargement, or as coming forth into an open
space. See above, on Ps. iv. 2 (1). Here, as in the preceding verse, most
interpreters make no distinction between preterite and future. The mean-
80
PSALM XVIII.
[VER. 20-24.
ing may, however, be that he expects the same deliverance hereafter which
he has experienced already.
21 (20). Jehovah will treat me according to my righteousness; according
to the cleanness of my hands will he repay me. The future verbs have
reference to the condition of the Psalmist under his afflictions, and the
hopes which even then he was enabled to cherish. At the same time they
make this the announcement of a general and perpetual truth, a law by
which God's dispensations are to be controlled for ever. The hands are
mentioned as organs or instruments of action. Compare Isa. i. 15, Job
ix. 30, xxii. 30. The righteousness here claimed is not an absolute perfection or entire
exemption from all sinful infirmity, but what Paul calls submission to the righteousness
of God (Rom. x. 3), including faith in his mercy and a sincere governing desire to do
his will. This is a higher and more comprehensive sense than innocence of some
particular charge, or innocence in reference to man, though not in reference to God.
22 (21). For I have kept the ways of Jehovah, and have not apostatised
from my God. The Lord's ways are the ways which he marks out for us
to walk in, the ways of duty and of safety. To keep them is to keep one's
self in them, to observe them so as to adhere to them and follow them. The
last clause strictly means, I have not been wicked (or guilty) from my God;
a combination of the verb and proposition which shews clearly that the
essential idea in the writer's mind was that of apostasy or total abjuration
of God's service. Itsis of this mortal sin, and not of all particular transgressions, that the Psalmist here professes himself innocent.
23 (22). For all his judgments (are) before me, and his statutes I will not
put from me. Judicial decisions and permanent enactments are here used
as equivalent expressions for all God's requisitions. To have these before
one is to observe them, and the opposite of puffing them away or out of
sight. The terms of this profession have been evidently chosen in allusion
to such dicta of the law itself as Deut. v. 29, xvii. 11. From the past tense
of the foregoing verse he here insensibly slides into the present and the future,
so as to make his profession of sincerity include his former lifer his actual
dispositions, and his settled purpose for all time to come.
24 (23). And I have been perfect with him, and have kept myself from
my iniquity. He not only will be faithful, but he has been so already, in
the sense before explained. There is evident reference in the first clause
to the requisition of the Law, "thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy
God," Deut. xviii. 13. (Compare Gen. xvii. 1.) With means not merely
in his presence, or his sight, as distinguished from men's estimate of moral
objects, but "in my intercourse and dealing with him." Compare 1 Kings xi. 4,
and the description of David in 1 Kings xiv. 8, xv. 5. In the last clause some
see an allusion to David's adventure in the cave, when his conscience smote
him for meditating violence against Saul. See 1 Sam. xxiv. 6, and compare
1 Sam. xxvi. 23, 24. But whether this be so or not, the clause undoubtedly
contains a confession of corruption. My iniquity can only mean that to
which I am naturally prone and subject. We have here, then, a further
proof that the perfection claimed in the first clause is not an absolute
immunity from sin, but an upright purpose and desire to serve God.
25 (24). And Jehovah has requited me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands before his eyes. This verse shews
clearly that the futures in ver. 21 (20) must be strictly understood. What
he there represents himself as confidently hoping, he here professes to
have really experienced. In the intervening verses he shews how he had
VER. 25-28.]
PSALM XVIII.
81
done his part, and now acknowledges that God had faithfully performed his own.
26, 27 (25, 26). With the gracious thou wilt shew thyself gracious; with
the perfect man thou wilt shew thyself perfect; with the purified thou wilt shew
thyself pure; and with the crooked thou wilt shew thyself perverse. What he
had previously mentioned as the method of God's dealings towards himself, he now describes as a general law of the divine administration. The
essential idea is that God is, in a certain sense, to men precisely what they
are to him. The particular qualities specified are only given as examples,
and might have been exchanged for others without altering the general sense.
The form of expression is extremely strong and bold, but scarcely liable to
misapprehension, even in ver. 27 (26). No one is in danger of imagining
that God can act perversely even to the most perverse. But the same
course of proceeding which would be perverse in itself or towards a righteous
person, when pursued towards a sinner becomes a mere act of vindicatory
justice. In the first clause of ver. 26 (25), the ambiguous word gracious
has been chosen to represent the similar term dysiHA, for the comprehensive
use of which we see above, on Ps. iv. 4 (3), xii. 2 (1). Perfect has the
same sense as in ver. 23 (22), namely, that of freedom from hypocrisy and
malice. The verbs are all of the reflexive form and might be rendered,
thou wilt make thyself gracious, thou wilt act the gracious, or simply thou wilt
be gracious, &c., but the common version approaches nearest to the force of
the original expression. The first verb of ver. 27 (26) occurs once elsewhere (Dan. xii. 10), the rest only here. The forms may have been coined
for the occasion, to express the bold conception of the writer. The resemblance of the last clause of ver. 27 (26) to Lev. xxvi. 23, 24, makes it highly
probable that the whole form of this singular dictum was suggested by that
passage, the rather as this Psalm abounds in allusions to the Pentateuch
and imitations of it.
28 (27). For thou wilt save the afflicted people, and lofty eyes thou wilt
bring down. Another general description of God's dealings with mankind,
repeated more than once in the New Testament. See Mat. xxiii. 12, Luke
xiv. 11, xviii. 14. High looks or lofty eyes is a common Old Testament
expression for pride and haughtiness. See below, on Ps. ci. 5, cxxxi. 1,
and compare Prov. xxi. 4, xxx. 13, Isa. x. 12, xxxvii. 23. The afflicted
people means the people of God when in affliction, or considered as sufferers.
Thou is emphatic: "however men may despise and maltreat thy afflicted
people, I know that thou wilt save them."
29 (28). For thou wilt light my lamp; Jehovah, my God, will illuminate
my darkness. Having ascended from particulars to generals, he now reverses
the process. On his own experience, as described in ver. 4-25 (3-24), he
had founded a general declaration of God's mode of dealing with men,
which statement he proceeds now to illustrate by recurring to his own
experience. In this second part there is reason to believe that he has
reference to the other cases of deliverance in his history, besides those from
Saul's persecutions which had furnished the theme of his thanksgiving in the
first part of the psalm. In accordance with this difference of subject, it
has been observed that in this second part he appears more active, and
not merely as an object but an instrument of God's delivering mercy. As
to the form of expression in this part, it has been determined by the writer's
assuming his position at the close of the Sauline persecution, and describing
his subsequent deliverances as still prospective. This was the more con6
82
PSALM XVIII.
[VER. 29-32.
venient, as he wished to express a confident assurance of God's goodness,
not only to himself individually but to his posterity. A lamp or candle in
the house is a common Hebrew figure for prosperity, and its extinction for
distress. See Job xviii. 5, 6, xxi. 17, Prov. xxiv. 20. The first clause
may also be translated, thou wilt make my light shine. The verb in the
parallel clause is from another root, and there is consequently no such
assonance as in the English version (light, enlighten). The pronoun in the
first clause is again emphatic. "Whatever I may suffer at the hands of
others, THOU at least wilt light my candle." The emphasis is sustained in
the last clause by a sudden change of person and introduction of the divine name.
30 (29). For in, thee I shall run (through or over) a troop, and in my
God I shall leap a wall. From his ideal post of observation he foresees
the military triumphs which awaited him, and which were actually past at
the time of composition. The for, as in the two preceding verses, connects
the illustration with the general preposition in ver. 27-29 (26-28). "This
is certainly God's mode of dealing, for I know that he will deal thus with me."
In thee, and in my God, i. e. in intimate union with him and possession of
him, a much stronger sense than that of mere assistance (by thee), which
however, is included. See below, on Ps. xliv. 6 (5). —The ellipsis of the
preposition, with which the verbs are usually construed, belongs to the
licence of poetical style. Even in prose, however, we can say, to walk the
streets, to leap a wall. To run a troop may either mean to run against or
through it; the phrase may therefore be completed so as to have either an
offensive or defensive sense. In like manner, leaping a wall may either
mean escaping from an enemy or storming his defences. Most interpreters
prefer the stronger meaning of attack, which is certainly entitled to the
preference, unless the writer be supposed to have selected his expressions
with a view to the suggestion of both these ideas, which together comprehend all possible varieties of success in war. As if he had said, "Weak
though I be in myself, I am sure that in conjunction with thee, neither
armies nor fortifications shall be able to subdue or even to resist me." With
David's tone of triumphant confidence in this verse, compare Paul's in
2 Cor. ii. 14, and Philip. iv. 13.
31 (30). The Almighty — perfect is his way—the word of Jehovah is tried
—a shield (is) he to all those trusting in him. The first clause seems to be
an amplification of my God in the preceding verse. In my God, the Mighty
(God), whose way is perfect, i. e. his mode of dealing, as before described, is
free from all taint of injustice. This explanation suggests a further description of Jehovah as a sure protector. His word here means especially his
promise, perhaps with specific allusion to the seventh chapter of 2 Samuel.
Tried, as metals are tried by fire, and thus proved to be genuine; see
above, on Ps. xii. 7 (6). A shield; see above, on Ps. 4 (3). Trusting
in him; see above, on Ps. ii. 12.
32 (31). For who is God save Jehovah? And who is a rock besides our
God? The for shews that this verse gives the ground of the strong assurances contained in that before it. "I affirm all this because I recognise
Jehovah as the only true God." Rock has the same sense as in ver. 3 (2).
The whole verse bears a strong resemblance to 2 Sam. vii. 22.
33 (32). The Almighty girding me with strength, and (who) has given
(or rendered) my way perfect. The connection of the verses is the same as
that between ver. 31 (30) and 32 (31). The our God of the preceding
verse is here described as the Almighty girding me, &c. For the true
VER. 33-37.]
PSALM XVIII.
83
sense of the divine name here and in ver. 32 (31), see above, on Ps. v.
5 (4). vii. 12, (11), x. 11, 12, xvi. 1, xvii. 6. The imparting of a quality
or bestowing of a gift is in various languages described as clothing. Thus
the English words endue and invest have almost lost their original meaning. The figure of girding is peculiarly significant, because in the oriental
dress the girdle is essential to all free and active motion. Compare Ps.
lxv. 13 (12), as translated in the margin of the English Bible, and Isa. xi. 5.
The last clause may either mean, "who is faultless in the way by
which he leads me," i. e. whose dispensations towards me are free from all
injustice; or, "who gives my conduct the perfection which belongs to it."
The first construction gives the words the same sense as in ver. 31 (30);
but the other is by far the simplest and most natural, and as such
entitled to the preference.
34 (33). Making my feet like hinds, and on my heights he makes me stand.
The first word properly means equalling, assimilating, the idea of resemblance being expressed in Hebrew both by the verb and by the particle of
comparison. The female animal is supposed by some to be mentioned
because it was regarded as more fleet, and accordingly we find it used in
the Egyptian hieroglyphics as a symbol of swiftness. The name, however,
may be used generally, as in English we apply either the masculine or
feminine pronoun to some whole species. My heights, those which are to
be mine by right of conquest and by divine gift. The heights may be
either the natural highlands of the country or the artificial heights of its
fortified places. It has been disputed whether the swiftness mentioned in
the first clause has reference to attack or flight. Most probably both were
meant to be included, as in ver. 30 (29) above. For both reasons swiftness of foot was prized in the heroic age, as appears from Homer's standing
description of Achilles. See 2 Sam. ii. 18, 1 Chron. xii. 8.
35 (34). Teaching my hands to war, and my arms have bent a bow of
brass. The construction is continued from the preceding verse, all the
participles having reference to the name of God in ver. 33 (32). The last
clause is a strong expression for extraordinary strength, which is mentioned
merely as a heroic quality. The translation broken rests on what is now
regarded as a false etymology. Brass was used before iron in Egypt and
other ancient countries as a material for arms.
36 (35). And hast given me a shield, thy salvation; and thy right hand
is to hold me up, and thy condescension is to make me great. In the first
clause we may also read the shield of thy salvation, or thy shield of salvation, i. e. thy saving shield, without material variation of the sense. The
futures have reference to the point from which he is surveying things past
as still future. The noun in the last clause means humility, as an attribute
of human character (Prov. xv. 33), but when applied to God, benignant
self-abasement, condescending kindness to inferiors. Compare Ps. viii. 5
(4), Isai. lxvi. 1, 2.
37 (36). Thou wilt enlarge my steps under me, and my ankles shall not
swerve. To enlarge the steps is to afford ample room for walking freely
without hindrance. The opposite figure is that of confined steps. See Prov. iv. 12,
Job xviii. 7. The meaning of the whole verse is, thou wilt guide me safely.
38 (37). I am to pursue my enemies and overtake them, and not to turn
back until I destroy them. This is not a threat of vengeance, but a confident anticipation of perpetual triumphs, either in his own person or in that
of his descendants. The form of expression in the first clause is borrowed
84
PSALM XVIII.
[VER. 38-45.
from the Song of Moses, Exod. xv. 9. See above on Ps. vii. 6 (5), where
the same two verbs are combined. The reference of all these future forms
to past time would be not only gratuitous but ungrammatical.
39 (38). I shall smite them and they cannot rise, they shall fall beneath
my feet. This simply carries out the idea of successful pursuit in the preceding verse.
40 (39). And thou hast girded me with strength for the war (or battle),
thou wilt bow down my assailants under me. He returns to God as the
author of his triumphs and successes. The first clause blends the ideas
expressed in the corresponding clauses of ver. 33, 36 (32, 35).—My
assailants, literally, my insurgents, those rising up against me. See ver.
49 below, and compare Ps. xliv. 6 (5), lix. 2 (1), Job xxvii. 7. Here
again the spirit of the Psalmist is not that of an ambitious conqueror, but
of a willing instrument in God's hand, to be used for the promotion of his
sovereign purpose.
41 (40). And my enemies—thou hast given to me the back—and my
haters—I will destroy them. Each clause begins with an absolute nominative which might be rendered, as to my enemies, as to my haters. The
remainder of the first clause is highly idiomatic in its form, and scarcely
admits of an exact translation. The word translated back properly means
the back of the neck, but is frequently used in such connections. The
meaning of the whole phrase is, thou hast given me their back, i. e. made
them to turn it towards me by putting them to flight. This is also a
Mosaic form of speech. See Exod. xxiii. 27, and compare Josh. vii. 8,
2 Chron. xxix. 6. Ps. xxi. 13 (12).
42 (41), They shall call for help, and there is no deliverer—upon Jehovah,
and he hears them not. Because they have no covenant relation to him, as
the Psalmist had. Their calling on Jehovah does not exclude all reference
to heathen foes, as appears from Jonah i. 14. —Hear, in the pregnant sense
of hearing favourably, granting, answering a prayer. See above, on Ps.
iii. 5 (4).
43 (42). And I shall beat them small as dust before the wind, as dirt in
the streets I will pour them out. The comparisons in this verse are intended
to express the Psalmist's superiority to his enemies, his consequent contempt for them, and the facility with which he will destroy them. Similar
images are not unfrequent in the Old Testament. See for example Isa. x. 6,
Zeph. i. 17. Zech. x. 5.
44 (43). Thou wilt save me from the strifes of the people; thou wilt place
me at the head (or for a chief) of nations; a people I have not known shall
serve me. He was not only to be freed from the internal strifes of his own
people, but by that deliverance enabled to subdue other nations. The
closing words of the psalm, and its obvious connection with the promises in
2 Sam. vii., shew that this anticipation was not limited to David's personal
triumphs, either at home or abroad, but meant to comprehend the victories
of his successors, and especially of him in whom the royal line was at once
to end and be perpetuated. It may, therefore, be affirmed with truth that
this prediction had its complete fulfilment only in Christ.
45, 46 (44, 45). At the hearing of the ear they will obey me, the sons of
outland will lie to me; the sons of outland will decay, and tremble out of
their enclosures. The meaning of the first words of this verse is clear from
Job xlii. 5, where the hearing of the ear is put in opposition to the sight of
the eye, report or hearsay to personal and ocular inspection. The verb
translated will obey, whenever it occurs elsewhere, is a simple passive of the
VER. 46.]
PSALM XVIII.
85
where verb to hear, and accordingly some render it here, they who have only been
heard of by the hearing of the ear, i. e. those whom I have only heard of,
but have never seen, will feign obedience. But as the corresponding form
of the verb to lie (UwHEKAyi) is used by Moses actively in Deut. xxxiii. 29, to
which place there is an obvious allusion here. the first translation above
given is entitled to the preference, and the sense is, that as soon as foreign
nations hear of him they will lie to him, i. e. yield a feigned obedience
through the influence of fear, in which sense another form of the same verb
is used, not only in the passage of the Pentateuch just cited, but in Ps.
lxvi. 3, lxxxi. 16 (15).—The old word outland, which may still be traced in
its derivative adjective outlandish, has been here employed to represent a
Here Hebrew word for which we have no equivalent in modern English, and
of his which means foreign parts indefinitely or collectively. The marginal version
in the English Bible (sons of the stranger) is only an inexact approximation
to the form of the original. The verb decay, which properly denotes the
withering of plants (see above, Ps. i. 3), is applied to the wasting of the
human subject, and indeed of whole communities, in Exod. xviii. 18. To
tremble from, or out of, is a pregnant phrase, involving the idea of a verb of
motion, and meaning to come forth with fear. The same form of expression may be found in Micah vii. 17, and analogous ones in 1 Sam. xvi. 4,
Hosea xi. 11.—Their enclosures, their retreats or refuges, perhaps with
made special reference to military enclosures, such as fortresses and camps.
47 (46). Jehovah lives, and blessed be my rock, and high shall be the God
of my salvation. The first phrase, (hOAhy; yHa)which is elsewhere always
used as a formula of swearing (as the Lord liveth, i. e. as certainly as God
exists), is by some interpreters confounded with a kindred phrase (yHiy;
j`l,m,.ha) vive le roi, (long) live the king, and regarded as a kind of acclamation, similar to those which were uttered at the coronation of the Jewish kings
(1 Sam. x. 24, 1 Kings i. 25, 39, 2 Kings xi. 12). But besides the difference of form in Hebrew, such a wish is inappropriate to any but a mortal.
There may, however, be an intentional allusion to the custom in question,
as well as to the practice of swearing by the life of Jehovah, both of which
would naturally be suggested to a Hebrew reader. Jehovah is described as
the living God, in contrast to dead idols, or imaginary deities, which, as
Paul says (1 Cor. viii. 4), are nothing in the world. Blessed be my rock,
the foundation of my hope, my refuge and protector; see above, on ver. 3
(2). The word translated blessed does not mean happy, but praised, and
may here have the peculiar sense of worthy to be praised, like ll.Ahum; in ver.
4 (3) above. It may be rendered as an affirmation: My rock (is) worthy
to be praised. Or it may be taken as a wish: Praised (be) my rock, to
which there is the less objection, as the preceding proposition is, in fact
though not in form, a doxology, i. e. a declaration of what God is in himthat self, and of that to which he is in consequence entitled. The third phrase,
he shall be high, may be understood to mean, not only he shall still be
glorious, but he shall be magnified as such, exalted by the praises of his
creatures. The God of my salvation, or, my God of salvation, does not
merely mean the God who saves me, but my God who is a Saviour, of whom
this is one essential character. Compare Luke i. 47. This epithet is
common in the Psalms, and occurs once or twice in the Prophets. Isa.
xvii. 10, Mic. vii. 7, Hab. iii. 18.
86
PSALM XVIII.
[VER. 47-50.
48 (47). The Mighty (God) who gives revenges to me and has subdued
nations under me. The construction is the same as in ver. 31, 33 (30, 32)
above. This verse contains a further description of the God of his salvaLion, and at the same time justifies the affirmations of the preceding verse,
What the Psalmist here rejoices in is not vengeance wreaked upon his personal enemies, but punishment inflicted on the enemies of God through
himself as a mere instrument. Not to rejoice in this would have proved him unworthy
of his high vocation. With the last clause compare Ps. xlvii.4 (3), cxliv. 2.
49 (48). Saving me from my enemies; yea, from my assailants (or insurgents) thou wilt raise me high; from the man of violence thou wilt deliver me.
Here again the construction changes from the participle to the finite verb,
but with a further change to the second person, which adds greatly to the
life and energy of the expression. The yea may be taken as a simple copulative, and assailants as a mere equivalent to enemies. Some prefer, however, to assume a climax, and to understand the verse as meaning that he
had not only been delivered from external foes, but from the more dangerous assaults of domestic treason or rebellion. There would then seem to
be an allusion to Absalom's conspiracy. Thou wilt raise me, set me up on
high, beyond the reach of all my enemies. For a similar expression see
below, Ps. lix. 2 (1), as translated in the margin of the English Bible,
The man of violence has, no doubt, reference to Saul, but only as the type of
a whole class. Compare Ps. cxl. 2, 5 (1, 4).
50 (49). Therefore I will thank thee among the nations, O Jehovah, and
to thy name will sing. The first word has reference not merely to the fact
of his deliverance and promotion, but to the character in which he had experienced these blessings, and the extent of the divine purpose in bestowing
them. "Therefore—because it is God who has done and is to do all this
for me, and because it is in execution of a purpose comprehending the whole
race—I will not confine my praises and thanksgiving to my own people,
but extend them to all nations." The performance of this vow has been
going on for ages, and is still in progress wherever this and other psalms of
David are now sung or read. The verse before us is legitimately used by
Paul, together with Deut. xxxii. 43, Isa. xi. 1, 10, and Ps. cxvii. 1, to
prove that, even under the restrictive institutions of the old economy, God
was not the God of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles also. (Rom. iii. 29,
xv. 9-12).—The verb in the first clause strictly means I will confess or
acknowledge, but is specially applied to the acknowledgment of gifts received
or benefits experienced, and then corresponds almost exactly to our thank.
The corresponding verb in the last clause means to praise by music. See
above, on Ps. vii. 18 (17), ix. 3, 12 (2, 11).
51 (50). Making great the salvations of his King, and doing kindness to his
Anointed, to David, and to his seed unto eternity. We have here another
instance of the favourite construction which connects a sentence with the
foregoing context by means of a participle agreeing with the subject of a
previous sentence; see above, ver. 31 (30), 32 (31), 33 (32), 34 (33), 49
(48). Making great salvations, saving often and signally. The plural form
conveys the idea of fulness and completeness. As the phrase His Anointed
might have seemed to designate David exclusively, he shews its comprehensive import by expressly adding David and his seed, from which it clearly
follows that the Messiah or Anointed One here mentioned is a complex or
ideal person, and that Jesus Christ, far from being excluded, is, in fact, the
principal person comprehended, as the last and greatest of the royal line of
VER. 1.]
PSALM XIX.
87
David, to whom the promises were especially given, in whom alone they are
completely verified, and of whom alone the last words of this psalm could
be uttered, in their true and strongest sense, without a falsehood or without absurdity. In this conclusion, as in other portions of the psalm, there
is a clear though tacit reference to the promise in 2 Sam. vii. 12-16, 25,
26, where several of the very same expressions are employed. Compare
also Ps. xxviii. 8, lxxxiv. 10 (9), and Ps. lxxxix, passim.
Another copy of this psalm is found recorded near the close of David's
history (2 Sam. ch. xxii.), which confirms the intimation in the title,
that it was not composed in reference to any particular occasion, but in
a general retrospection of the miseries of his whole life. The two texts
often differ, both in form and substance, which has led some to suppose,
that one is an erroneous transcript of the other. But this conclusion is for
bidden by the uniform consistency of each considered in itself, as well as
by the obvious indications of design in the particular variations, which may
be best explained by supposing, that David himself, for reasons not recorded,
prepared a twofold form of this sublime composition, which is the less improbable, as there are other unambiguous traces of the same process in the
Old Testament, and in the writings of David himself. See below, the exposition of Ps. liii., and compare that of Isaiah, ch. xxxvi.—xxxix. If this be a
correct hypothesis, the two forms of the eighteenth psalm may be treated as
distinct and independent compositions; and it has therefore been thought
most advisable, both for the purpose of saving room and of avoiding the confusion which a parallel interpretation might have caused, to confine the
exposition in this volume to that form of the psalm, which was preserved in the
Psalter for permanent use in public worship, and which exhibits strong
internal proofs of being the original or first conception, although both are
equally authentic and inspired.
PSALM XIX.
This psalm consists of three parts. The subject of the first is God's
revelation of himself in his material works, ver. 2-7 (1-6). That of the
second is the still more glorious revelation of himself in his law, ver. 8-11
(7-10). The third shews the bearing of these truths upon the personal
character and interest of the writer, and of all who are partakers of his faith,
ver. 12-15 (11-14).
The object of the psalm is not to contrast the moral and material revelations, but rather to identify their author and their subject. The doctrinal
sum of the whole composition is, that the same God who reared the frame
of nature is the giver of a law, and that this law is in all respects worthy of
its author.
1. To the Chief Musician, a Psalm by David. The form of this inscription is the same as that of Ps. xiii. Its historical correctness is attested by
its position in the Psalter, its resemblance to Ps. viii., and its peculiar
style and spirit.
2 (1). The heavens (are) telling the glory of God, and the work of his hands
(is) the firmament declaring. The participles are expressive of continued
action. The glory of God is the sum of his revealed perfections (compare
Ps. xxiv. 7-10, xxix. 3, Rom. i. 20. The expanse or firmament is used as
an equivalent to heaven, even in the history of the creation, Gen. i. 8. To
88
PSALM XIX.
[VER. 2-5.
declare the work of his hands is to shew what he can do and has actually
done. The common version handywork means nothing more than handwork; to take handy as an epithet of praise is a vulgar error.
3 (2). Day to day shall pour out speech, and night to night shall utter
knowledge. Both verbs are peculiar to the poetical dialect and books of the
Old Testament. Pour out, in a copious ever-gushing stream. As the participles of ver. 2 (1) express constant action, so the futures here imply continuance in all
time to come. Speech means the declaration of God's glory, and knowledge the
knowledge of the same great object. The idea of perpetual testimony is conveyed by
the figure of one day and night following another as witnesses in unbroken succession.
4 (3). There is no speech, and there are no words; not at all is their voice
heard. As the first clause might have seemed to contradict the first clause
of ver. 3 (2), the Psalmist adds no words, to shew that he here uses speech
in the strict sense of articulate language.—The first word of the last clause
is properly a noun, meaning cessation or defect, non-entity, and here used as
a more emphatic negative, expressed in the translation by the phrase not at
all.—Their voice might either be referred exclusively to the heaven and
firmament of ver. 2 (1), or extended to the day and night of ver. 3 (2). But
the first is the true construction, as appears from the next verse. The absence
of articulate language, far from weakening the testimony, makes it stronger.
Even without speech or words, the heavens testify of God to all men. This
construction of the sentence is much simpler, as well as more exact, than
the ancient one, retained in the common version, "there is no speech nor
language where their voice is not heard," or that preferred by others, "it
is not a speech or language whose voice is not heard." The true sense is
given in the margin of the English Bible.
5 (4.) In all the earth has gone out their line, and in the end of the world
(are) their words. For the sun he has pitched a tent in them. The word rendered line always means a measuring line, and in Jer. xxxi. 39 is combined
in that sense with the same verb as here. The idea is, that their province
or domain is co-extensive with the earth, and that they speak with authority even in its remotest parts.—Words may also be construed with the verb
of the first clause, but it will then be necessary to translate the preposition
to. The explanation of line as meaning the string of a musical instrument,
and then the sound which it produces, although favoured by the ancient
versions, is entirely at variance with Hebrew usage. The subject of the
verb in the last clause is the name of God expressed in ver. 2 (1) above.—
Pitched a tent, provided a dwelling, or without a figure, assigned a place.
In them must refer to the heavens mentioned in ver. 2 (1), which makes it
probable that all the plural pronouns in the intervening clauses have the
same antecedent. The sun is introduced in this sentence probably because
his apparent course is a measure of the wide domain described in the first
clause. It must be co-extensive with the earth, because the sun which
visits the whole earth has his habitation in the sky. The boundless extension of the heavens and their testimony is used by Paul (Rom. x. 18) to
signify the general diffusion of the gospel, and the same thing might have
taught the earlier Jews that their exclusive privileges were granted only for
a time, and as a means to a more glorious end.
6 (5). And he (is) as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; he rejoices
as a mighty man to run a race. The second simile has reference to the sun's
daily course, the first to his vigorous and cheerful reappearance after the
darkness of the night. By a fine transition, the general idea of a tent or
VER. 6-8.]
PSALM XIX.
89
dwelling is here exchanged for the specific one of a nuptial couch or chamber. Rejoices, literally will rejoice, for ever as he now does.
7 (6). From the end of the heavens (is) his outgoing, and his circuit even
to the ends of them, and there is none (or nothing) hidden from his heat.
What is said in ver. 5 (4) of the heavens is here said of the sun, to wit,
that his domain is coextensive with the earth or habitable world. The
last clause is added to shew that it is not an ineffective presence, but one
to be felt as well as seen. The sun's heat is mentioned, not in contrast
with his light, but as its inseparable adjunct.—The plural ends seems to be added to
the singular in order to exhaust the meaning, or at least to strengthen the expression.
The word translated circuit includes the idea of return to a starting-point. The
Hebrew preposition properly means up to (or down to) their very extremity.
8 (7). The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of
Jehovah is sure, making wise the simple. The God, whose glory is thus
shewn forth by the material creation, is the author of a spiritual law, which
the Psalmist now describes in the next three verses, by six characteristic
names, six qualifying epithets, and six moral effects produced by it. In
the verse before us, besides the usual term law, it is called God's testimony,
i. e. the testimony which he bears for truth and against iniquity. It is
described as perfect, i. e. free from all defect or blemish, and as sure, i. e.
definite, decided, and infallible. Its two effects, mentioned in this verse.
are, first, that of restoring the soul, i. e. the life and spirits exhausted by
calamity. See below, on Ps. xxiii. 3, and compare Ruth. iv. 15, Lam. i.
11, 16. The effect of converting the soul would not have been attributed
to the law in this connection, where the writer is describing the affections
cherished towards the law by men already converted, which removes all
apparent inconsistency with Paul's representation of the law as working
death, and at the same time the necessity of making the law mean the
gospel, or in any other way departing from the obvious and usual import
of the Hebrew word. The other effect ascribed to the law is that of making wise the simple, not the foolish, in the strong sense in which that term
is applied to the ungodly—see above, on Ps. xiv. 1—but those imperfectly
enlightened and still needing spiritual guidance, a description applicable,
more or less, to all believers. It is a singular fact, that while this usage of
the Hebrew word is peculiar to David, Solomon constantly applies it to the
culpable simplicity of unconverted men. (See Ps. cxvi. 6, cxix. 130, Prov.
i. 22, vii. 7, ix. 4, xiv. 15, &c.)—In like manner Paul describes the
"sacred scriptures" as able to make wise unto salvation, 2 Tim. iii. 15.
9 (8). The statutes of Jehovah (are) right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes. The words translated
statute and commandment differ very slightly from each other, the one expressing more distinctly the idea of a charge or commission, the other that
of a prescription or direction. There is also no great difference between
the epithets applied in this verse to the law of God, which is right, as being
an exact expression of his rectitude, and pure, as being free from all taint
of injustice or iniquity. The first effect described is that of rejoicing the
heart, to wit, the heart loving righteousness, and consequently desirous of
knowing what is right by knowing what is acceptable to God, and what
required by him. The other effect, enlightening the eyes, is understood by
some of intellectual illumination with respect to spiritual things. But it
is more agreeable to Hebrew usage to suppose an allusion to the dimness of
the eyes produced by extreme weakness and approaching death, recovery
90
PSALM XIX.
[VER. 9-11.
from which is figuratively represented as an enlightening of the eyes. See
above, on Ps. xiii. 4 (3), and compare Ps. xxxiv. 6 (5). The figure,
thus explained, bears a strong resemblance to restoring the soul in the preceding
verse, the one referring rather to the sense, and the other to the life itself.
10 (9). The fear of Jehovah is clean, standing for ever; the judgments of
Jehovah are truth, they are righteous altogether. As the fear of Jehovah, in
its proper sense, would here be out of place, and as the law was designed to
teach men how to fear the Lord (Deut. xvii. 19), the phrase may here
be understood as a description of the law viewed in reference to this peculiar
purpose, the fear of the Lord being put for that which leads or teaches
men to fear him, a sense which the expression is supposed to have in several
other places. See Ps. xxxiv. 12 (11), Prov. 29, ii. 5, xv. 33.—Standing
for ever, of perpetual obligation. Even Christ came not to destroy, but to
fulfil. See Mat. v. 17, 18. With the form of expression here compare
Ps. xxxiii. 11, cxii. 3.—Judgments are properly judicial decisions, but
are here put, as in Ps. xviii. 23 (22), for all God's requisitions. They are
truth (itself) may be a strong expression, meaning they are perfectly and
absolutely true; but as this would make the last clause little more than a
tautology, the first phrase may be understood to mean that they are really
that which they purport and claim to be, and therefore must be righteous
altogether, i. e. all, without exception, righteous, which is tantamount, in
fact, though not in form, to wholly or completely righteous.
11 (10). (Judgments) to be desired more than gold, and much fine gold;
and sweeter than honey and the dropping of the combs. The description of
the law of God is wound up by comparing it to the costliest and sweetest
substance in common use. The sense of the passive participle is like that
in Ps. xviii. 4 (3). Its plural form, and the article prefixed to it in Hebrew,
shew that it is to be construed with judgments, and that the sentence,
is continued from the foregoing verse, as in Ps. xviii. 31 (30), 33 (32), 34
(33), 35 (34), 48 (47), 51 (50).—The Hebrew answering to fine gold is a
single word (zPA), not used in prose, and by some supposed to mean solid
or massive gold, but according to a more probable etymology denoting
purified or fine gold. The combination here used is found also in Ps. cxix.
127. See also Prov. viii. 19, and compare Ps. xxi. 4 (3), below. To
make the resemblance of the clauses perfect, the usual word for honey is
followed by a beautiful periphrasis, denoting that kind which was most
highly valued, The ideas expressed by both comparisons are those of
value and delightfulness.—As the preceding verses describe what the law
is in itself and in its general effects, so this seems to express what it is to
the Psalmist's apprehensions and affections, thus affording a transition
from the comprehensive doctrines of the foregoing context to the practical
and personal approbation of those doctrines, which now follows and concludes the psalm.
12 (11). Moreover, thy servant is enlightened by them; in keeping them
there is much reward. The verb in the first clause is used with special
reference to admonition and warning against danger. See Eccles. iv. 13,
Exod. xxxiii. 4, 5, 6, Eccles. xii. 12. The plural suffixes have reference to
judgments in ver. 10 (9) above.—Reward is here used not to signify a
recompence earned in strict justice, but a gratuity bestowed. The spirit of
the passage is the same as in 1 Cor. xv. 19, 1 Tim. iv. 8. The phrase
VER. 12-14.]
PSALM XIX.
91
thy servant brings the general doctrines of the foregoing context into
personal application to the writer.
13 (12). Errors who shall understand? Clear thou me from hidden
ones! The word translated errors is akin to one sometimes used in the
Law to denote sins of inadvertence, error, or infirmity, as distinguished
from deliberate, wilful, and high-handed sins, such as are deprecated in
the next verse. See Lev. iv. 2-27, Num. xv. 27. Against such sins no
wisdom or vigilance can wholly guard.—The word translated clear is also borrowed from the Law, and means not so much to cleanse by renovation
of the heart, as to acquit by a judicial sentence. See Exod. xxxiv. 7, Num.
xiv. 18. Such an acquittal, in the case of sinners against God, involves the
idea of a free forgiveness.
14 (13). Also from presumptuous (ones) withhold thy servant; then shall
I be perfect and be clear from much transgression. As he prays for the
forgiveness of his inadvertent sins, so he prays for the prevention of deliberate ones. The Hebrew word (Mydize) properly denotes proud men, but
seems to be here applied to sins by a strong personification. The use of
the verbal root and its derivatives in the Old Testament may be seen by comparing Exod. xxi.14, Deut. xvii.12, xviii. 22, 1 Sam. xvii. 28.—To be perfeet has the same sense as in Ps. xviii. 24-26 (23-25). That it does not
there mean sinless perfection is confirmed by the language of the verse
before us.—The great transgression, as if referring to some one particular
offence, is not the true sense of the Hebrew phrase, which is indefinite and
perfectly analogous to that rendered much (or great) reward in ver. 12 (11) above.
15 (14). (Then) shall be for acceptance (or acceptable) the sayings of my
mouth, and the thought of my heart before thee, Jehovah, my rock and my
redeemer. The simplest and most obvious construction of the Hebrew
sentence makes it a direct continuation of the last clause of ver. 14 (13),
and like it an anticipation of the happy effects to be expected from an
answer to the foregoing prayers. If his sins of ignorance could be forgiven, and the deliberate sins, to which his natural corruption prompts him,
hindered by divine grace, he might hope not only to avoid much guilt but
to be the object of God's favour. As this confident anticipation really
involves a wish that it may be fulfilled, there is little real difference between the construction above given and the common version: let the words
of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable, &c. It is much
more natural, however, to connect the words before thee with my meditation,
which immediately precedes, than with the first words of the verse as in
the English Bible. What I think in thy presence is then joined with the
words of my mouth, to express all prayer, whether clothed in words or not.
See above, on Ps. v. 2 (1). The prayer or expectation of acceptance in this
clause derives peculiar beauty from the obvious allusion to the frequent use
of the same Hebrew phrase (NOcrAl;) in the law of Moses, to denote the acceptance of the sacrificial offerings, or rather the acceptance of the offerer on
account of them. See Exod. xxviii. 38, Lev. xix. 5, 7, xxii. 19, 20, 29,
xxiii. 11, Isa. lvi. lx. 7, Rom. xii. 1. This allusion also serves to suggest the idea, not conveyed by a translation, of atonement, expiation, as
the ground of the acceptance which the Psalmist hopes or prays for.
92
PSALM XX.
[VER. 1-3.
PSALM XX.
A PRAYER for the use of the ancient church in time of war. Addressing
her visible head, she wishes him divine assistance and success, ver. 2-6
(1-5), and expresses a strong confidence that God will answer her petition,
ver. 7-9 (6-8), which she then repeats and sums up in conclusion, ver. 10 (9).
There is no trace of this psalm having been composed with reference to
any particular occasion, its contents being perfectly appropriate to every
case in which the chosen people, under their theocratic head, engaged in
war against the enemies of God and Israel.
To the Chief Musician. Written for his use and entrusted to him for
execution. As in all other cases, this inscription shews the psalm to have
been written, not for the expression of mere personal feelings, but to be a
vehicle of pious sentiment to the collective body of God's people. — A
Psalm by David. The correctness of this statement is not only free from
any positive objection, but confirmed by the whole tone and style of the performance, as well as by its intimate connection with the next psalm. See
below, on Ps. xxi. 1.
2 (1). Jehovah hear thee in the day of trouble! The name of Jacob's God
exalt thee! The name of God, the revelation of his nature in his acts.
"May those divine attributes, which have been so often manifested in the
experience of the chosen people, be exercised for thy protection. See above,
on Ps. v. 12 (11).—The God of Jacob, of the patriarch so called, and of
his seed. See Mat. xxii. 32.—Exalt thee, raise thee beyond the reach of
danger. See above, on Ps. ix. 10 (9), xviii. 3, 49 (2, 48).
3 (2). (May Jehovah) send thee help from (his) sanctuary, and from Zion
sustain thee. The mention of Zion and the sanctuary shews that Jehovah
is appealed to as the king of his people, and as such not only able but bound
by covenant to afford them aid. See below, on ver. 10 (9.) Sustain thee,
hold thee up, the same verb that is used in Ps. xviii. 36 (35). Both verbs
may also be translated as simple futures, will send, will sustain; but see below.
4 (3). (May Jehovah) remember all thy gifts and accept thy offering. Selah.
The word remember in the first clause seems to involve an allusion to the
memorial (hrAKAz;xa), a name given in the sacrificial ritual to that part of the
vegetable offering which was burnt upon the altar. See Lev. ii. 2, vi. 8
(15).—The word translated gifts, although properly generic, is specially
used to denote the vegetable offerings of the law, while the word translated
offering is the technical name of the principal animal sacrifice. They are
put together to describe these two species of obligation. Compare Ps.
xl. 7 (6), Jer. xvii. 26, Dan. ix. 27.—The verb translated accept means
elsewhere to make fat (Ps. xviii. 5), or to remove the ashes of the altar.
(Exod. xxvii. 3, Num. iv. 13). Some give it here the sense of turning into
ashes or consuming, others that of pronouncing fat, and therefore fit for
sacrifice. In either case acceptance is implied. The optative form of the
verb in the original seems to confirm the sense already put upon the foregoing futures. From this verse it has been inferred, with some probability,
that the whole psalm was specially intended to be used at the sacrifice
offered by the Israelites before a campaign or a battle. (See 1 Sam. xiii.
9, 10). To this some add the supposition, that the selah, in the verse be-
VER. 4-6.]
PSALM XX.
93
fore us, marks the pause in the performance of the psalm, during which the
sacrifice was actually offered. See above, on Ps. iii. 3 (2).
5 (4). (May he) give thee according to thy heart, and all thy counsel (or
design) fulfil. This is not a vague wish for success in general, but a prayer
for success on the particular occasion when the psalm was to be used.—
Thy heart, thy desire. Thy counsel, the plan which thou hast formed and
undertaken to execute in God's name, and for the protection or deliverance
of his people.
6 (5). May we rejoice in thy deliverance, and in the name of our God
display a banner! May Jehovah fulfil all thy petitions! The phrase thy
deliverance may mean that wrought or that experienced by thee. In all
probability both ideas are included. In the name of our God, and therefore
not as a mere secular triumph. The second verb (lGod;ni) seems to be connected with a noun (lg,D,) used by Moses to denote the banners under which
the four great divisions of the host marched through the wilderness (Num.
i. 52, ii. 2, 3, 10, 18, 25, x. 14). Hence the conjectural translation,
"may we set up (or display) a banner." But as the participle of the same
verb seems, in the only other place where it occurs (Song of Sol. v. 10),
to signify distinguished or exalted, others follow the Septuagint and Vulgate
in translating, may we be lifted up or magnified.—The last clause is a comprehensive prayer, equivalent in meaning to ver. 5 (4) above, and including
not merely what had been expressly specified, but all that the theocratic
sovereign might desire or attempt in conformity with God's will, whether
known to the whole body of his followers or not. This clause concludes
the first division of the psalm by recurring to the theme with which it
opens, and with which again the whole psalm closes. See below, on ver. 10 (9).
7 (6). Now I know that Jehovah has saved his Anointed—he will hear him
from his holy heavens—with the saving strength of his right hand. What
was asked in the foregoing context is here said to be already granted.
Hence some imagine that a battle or other decisive event must be supposed
to intervene. But this, besides being highly improbable and forced in so
brief a composition, is forbidden by the immediate recurrence to the future
form, he will hear. A far more natural solution is, that this verse expresses
a sudden conviction or assurance that the preceding prayers are to be answered. As if he had said: "Such are my requests, and I know that Jehovah
has already granted them, so that in his purpose and to the eye of faith,
his Anointed is already safe, and has already triumphed." The change
to the first person singular does not indicate a different speaker, but merely
puts what follows into the mouth of each individual believer, or of the whole
body viewed as an ideal person.
The second member of the sentence may be best explained as a parenthesis, leaving the third to be construed directly with the first, as in the
version above given. In this verse we have two examples of a common
Hebrew idiom, one of them a very strong one. The phrase translated from
his holy heavens might seen; to mean the heavens of his holiness; but the
true construction is his heavens of holiness, i. e. the heavens where the Holy
One resides, and from which his assistance must proceed. See above, on
Ps. ii. 6, xi. 4. The attribute of holiness is mentioned to exalt still further
the divine and sacred nature of the warfare and the victory to which the
psalm relates. Another example of the Hebrew idiom before referred to is
the saving strength of his right hand, which literally rendered is the strengths
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PSALM XX.
[VER. 7-9.
of the salvation of his right hand. The plural strengths may either be intensive, or refer to the various exertions of the power here described. The
right hand has the same sense as in Ps. xviii. 36 (35). Here, as in Ps.
xviii. 51 (50), His Messiah or Anointed One includes the whole succession
of genuine theocratic kings, not excepting him whose representatives they
were, and in whom the royal line was at the same time closed and made
perpetual.
8 (7). These in chariots and these in horses, and we in the name of Jehovah
our God, will glory. All the objects are connected by the same preposition with the same verb, namely, that at the end of the sentence. In
order to retain the preposition, which must otherwise be varied, and thereby
obscure the structure of the sentence, the verb glory, which is construed
with the preposition in, has been substituted for the strict sense of the
is
verb, we will cause to be remembered, i. e. mention or commemorate. See
Exod. xxiii. 13, Amos vi. 10, Isa. xlviii. 1, lxiii. 7. The insertion of the
verb trust, in the English versions of the first clause, is entirely gratuitous.
These and these is the Hebrew idiom for some and others. Compare this to
this, in Exod. xiv. 20, Isa. vi. 3.—The verb, in the case before us, may
have been selected in allusion to the cognate form in ver. 4 (3) above.
"As God has remembered thy offerings, so we will cause his name to be
remembered."—Our God is again emphatic and significant, as shewing that
the whole psalm has reference to the covenant relation between God and
his people represented by their theocratic sovereign. With the contrast
in this verse compare 1 Sam. xvii. 45, Isa. xxxi. 3, Ps. xxxiii. 16, 17.
9 (8). They have bowed and fallen, and we have risen and stood upright,
Here, as in ver. 7 (6), the past tense expresses the certainty of the event,
or rather the confidence with which it is expected. The emphatic they at
the beginning means the enemies and oppressors of God's people. We have
arisen seems to imply a previous prostration and subjection.—The last verb
occurs only here in this form, which is properly reflexive, and may be explained to mean, we have straightened ourselves up.
10 (9). Jehovah, save! Let the King hear us in the day we call, or still
more closely, in the day of our calling. The Septuagint and Vulgate make
the king a part of the first clause: "Jehovah, save the king" (Domino
salvum fac regem). But this not only violates the masoretic accents, which,
though not ultimately binding, are entitled to respect as a traditional
authority, but separates the verb in the last clause from its subject, so that
both the ancient versions just referred to have been under the necessity of
changing the third into the second person (hear us). The first clause is
besides more expressive and emphatic without the king than with it. Nothing could be more pregnant or sonorous than the laconic prayer, Jehovah,
save! The object is, of course, to be supplied from ver 7 (6), and from the
tenor of the whole psalm. The other construction, it is true, enables us to
make the King of this verse the same person with the Anointed of ver. 7 (6).
But far from any disadvantage, there is great force and beauty, in referring the
expected blessing to the true King of Israel, whom David and his followers
only represented. See Deut. xxxiii. 5, Ps. xlviii. 3 (2), Mat. v. 35.—By
taking the last verb as a future proper (the King will hear us) the psalm may
be made to close with a promise, or rather with a confident anticipation of
God's blessing. Most interpreters, however, prefer to make it optative,
and thus to let the psalm conclude as it began, with an expression of intense desire.
VER. 1-3.]
PSALM XXI.
95
PSALM XXI.
As in the eighteenth psalm, David publicly thanks God for the promises
contained in 2 Sam. vii., so here he puts a similar thanksgiving into the
mouth of the church or chosen people. In ver. 2-7 (1-6), the address is
to Jehovah, and the king is spoken of in the third person. In ver. 8 (7)
this form of speech is used in reference to both. In ver. 9-13 (8-12) the
address is to the king. In ver. 14 (13) it returns to Jehovah. As to the
substance or contents of these successive parts, the first praises God for
what he has bestowed upon the king, ver. 2-7 (1-6). In the second, there
is a transition to another theme, ver. 8 (7). The third congratulates the
king on what he is to do and to enjoy through the divine mercy, ver. 9-13
(8-12). The fourth returns to the point from which the whole set out,
ver. 14 (13). The opinion that this psalm relates to the fulfilment of the
prayer in that before it, seems to be inconsistent with its structure and
contents as just described. They are rather parallel than consecutive, the
principal difference being this, that while the twentieth psalm relates to the
specific case of assistance and, success in war, the twenty-first has reference
to the whole circle of divine gifts bestowed upon the Lord's Anointed.
1. To the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. The correctness of the
first inscription is apparent from the structure of the psalm, throughout
which the speaker is the ancient church. The correctness of the other may
be argued from the general resemblance of the style to that of the Davidic
psalms, from numerous coincidences of expression with the same, and from
the tone of lively hope which seems to indicate the recent date of the divine
communication, especially when compared with psalms which otherwise
resemble it, such as the eighty-ninth. The particular resemblance between
this psalm and the twentieth makes them mutually testify to one another's
genuineness and authenticity.
2 (1). Jehovah, in thy strength shall the king rejoice, and in thy salvation
how shall he exult! This verse commences the description of God's favour
to the king with a general statement, afterwards amplified in ver. 3-7 (2-6).
Thy strength, as imparted to him, or as exercised in his deliverance, which
last agrees best with the parallel expression, thy salvation, i. e. thy deliverance of him from the evils which he felt or feared. In thy strength and
salvation, i. e. in the contemplation and experience of it. The future verbs
shew that the gift has not yet been consummated, without excluding the
idea of it as begun already.
3 (2). The desire of his heart thou hast given unto him, and the quest of
his lips hast not withholden. Selah. The occasion of the joy and exultation
mentioned in the preceding verse is now more particularly set forth. It is
easy to imagine, although not recorded, that the great promise in the seventh
chapter of 2 Samuel was in answer to the fervent and long-continued
prayers of David for a succession in his own family.—The word translated
quest occurs only here, but its sense is determined by the parallelism and
the Arabic analogy. The combination of the positive and negative expressions of the same idea (given and not withholden) is a favourite Hebrew idiom.
4 (3). For thou wilt come before him with blessings of goodness, thou wilt
set upon his head a crown of gold. This, as Luther observes, is an answer
to the question what he had desired. The for connects it with the state-
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PSALM XXI.
[VER 4-7.
ment in the foregoing verse, which is here explained and justified. As the
preterites in ver. 3 (2) shew that his request was granted in the divine purpose, so the futures here shew how it was to be fulfilled in fact. Come
before, come to meet in a friendly manner. See above, on Ps. xvii. 13,
xviii. 6 (5), and compare Deut. xxiii. 5 (4).—Blessings of good, not blessings
prompted by the divine goodness, but conferring, or consisting in, good
fortune, happiness. See above, on Ps. xvi. 2.—The reference in the last
clause is not to David's literal coronation at the beginning of his reign, nor
to the golden crown which he took from the Ammonitish king of Rabbah
(2 Sam. xii. 30), but to his ideal coronation by the granting of these glorious
favours to himself and his successors. The divine communication in the
seventh of 2 Samuel seems to be here viewed, as the only real coronation
of David as a theocratic sovereign. The last word in the sentence is the
same that was translated pure gold when contrasted with the ordinary word
for gold, Ps. xix. 11 (10).
5 (4). Life he asked of thee, thou hast given (it) to him, length of days,
perpetuity and eternity. By disregarding the masoretic interpunction, the
construction may be simplified without a change of sense. "Life he asked
of thee, thou hast given him length of days," &c. The last words of the
verse are often used adverbially to mean for ever and ever; but as they are
both nouns, it is best to put them here in apposition with the same part of
speech which immediately precedes. This last clause shews that the life
which David prayed for was not personal longevity, but the indefinite continuation of his race, an honour which was granted to him, even beyond
his hopes and wishes, in the person of our Saviour. Compare 2 Sam. vii.
13, 16. Ps. lxxxix. 5 (4), cxxxii. 12.
6 (5). Great shall be his majesty in thy salvation; glory and honour thou
wilt put upon him. His personal experience of God's saving grace, and his
connection with the great scheme of salvation for mankind, would raise him
to a dignity far beyond that of any other monarch, and completely justifying even the
most exalted terms used in Scripture, from the charge of adulation or extravagance.
7 (6). For thou wilt make him a blessing to eternity; thou wilt gladden
him with joy by thy countenance (or presence). He shall not only be blessed
himself, but a blessing to others, the idea and expression being both derived
from the promise to Abraham in Gen. xii. 2, an allusion which serves also
to connect the Davidic with the Abrahamic covenant, and thus to preserve
unbroken the great chain of Messianic prophecies. Make him a blessing,
literally, place him for (or constitute him) blessing. The plural form suggests
variety and fulness, as in Ps. 51 (50), xx. 7 (6). By thy countenance,
or with thy face, i. e. by looking on him graciously, not merely in thy presence or before thee, as the place of the enjoyment, but by the sight of thee,
as its cause or source. See above, on Ps. xvi. 11.
8 (7). For the king (is) trusting in Jehovah, and in the grace of the Most
High he shall not be moved. The consummation of this glorious promise
was indeed far distant, but to the eye of faith distinctly visible. In the grace
seems to mean something more than through the grace (or favour) of the
Most High, as the ground of his assurance, or the source of his security.
The words appear to qualify the verb itself, and to denote that he shall not
be shaken from his present standing in God's favour. The use of the third
person in this verse, with reference both to God and the king, makes it a
kind of connecting link between the direct address to God in the first part
of the psalm, and the direct address to the king in the second.
VER. 8-13.]
PSALM XXI.
97
9 (8). Thy hand shall find out all thine enemies; thy right hand shall
find (those) hating thee. Having shewn what God would do for his
Anointed, the psalm now describes what the latter shall accomplish through
divine assistance. Corresponding to this variation in the subject, is that
in the object of address, which has been already noticed. By a kind of
climax in the form of expression, hand is followed by right hand, a still
more emphatic sign of active strength. To find, in this connection, includes
the ideas of detecting and reaching. Compare 1 Sam. xxiii. 17, Isa. x. 10;
in the latter of which places the verb is construed with a preposition (L),
as it is in the first clause of the verse before us, whereas in the other
clause it governs the noun directly. If any difference of meaning was intended, it
is probably not greater than that between find and find out in English.
10 (9). Thou shalt make them like a fiery furnace at the time of thy
presence; Jehovah in his wrath shall swallow them up, and fire shall devour
them. The ascription of this destroying agency to God in the last clause
serves to shew that the king acts merely as his instrument. Thou shalt
make, literally set or place, i. e. put them in such or such a situation. A
fiery furnace, literally a furnace (or oven) of fire. To make them like a
furnace here means, not to make them the destroyers of others, but, by a
natural abbreviation, to make them as if they were in a fiery furnace. At
the time of thy presence, literally thy face, which may be understood to
mean, when thou lookest at them.
11 (10). Their fruit shalt thou make to perish from the earth, and their
seed from (among) the sons of man (or Adam). This extends the threatened destruction of the enemies to all their generations. The same figurative use of fruit occurs in Hos. ix. 16.
12 (11). For they stretched out evil over thee; they devised a plot; they
shall not be able (to effect it). The figure of the first clause is the same as
in 1 Chron. xxi. 10. (Compare 2 Sam. xxiv. 12.) The idea here is that they
threatened to bring evil on thee. As the verb to be able is sometimes used
absolutely, it is translated, they shall not prevail.
13 (12). For thou, shalt make them turn their back; with thy (bow) strings
shalt make ready against their face. The common version of the first word
(therefore) is not only contrary to usage, but disturbs the sense by obscuring the connection with the foregoing verse, which is this: "they shall not
prevail, because thou shalt make them turn their back." This last phrase,
in Hebrew, is so strongly idiomatic that it scarcely admits of an exact
translation. Thou shalt make (or place) them shoulder. See above, on Ps.
xviii 41 (40), where a similar idiom occurs. In the verse before us, the
chronological succession is reversed; it was by shooting at their face that
he should make them turn their back. The true relation of the clauses is
denoted, in the English Bible, by supplying a particle of time: "thou
shalt make them turn their back (when) thou shalt make ready (thine
arrows) upon thy strings against the face of them." The version make
ready is also a correct one, although some translate the phrase take aim,
which is really expressed by another form of the same verb. The true
sense of the one here used is clear from Ps. xi. 2, and the distinctive use
of both from Ps. vii. 13, 14 (12, 13).
14 (13). Be high, Jehovah, in thy strength; we will sing and celebrate thy
power. Here the psalm returns to God as its great theme, and gives him
all the glory. Be high, exalted, both in thyself and in the praises of thy
people. See above, on Ps. xviii. 47 (46). Thy strength and power, as
98
PSALM XXII.
[VER. 1.
displayed in the strength given to thine anointed. Celebrate by music, as
the Hebrew verb always means. There is a beautiful antithesis in this
verse, as if he had said: thou hast only to deserve praise, we will give it.
PSALM XXII.
THE subject of this Psalm is the deliverance of a righteous sufferer
from his enemies, and the effect of this deliverance on others. It is so
framed as to be applied without violence to any case belonging to the class
described, yet so that it was fully verified only in Christ, the head and representative of the class in question. The immediate speaker in the psalm is an
ideal person, the righteous servant of Jehovah, but his words may, to a
certain extent, be appropriated by any suffering believer, and by the whole
suffering church, as they have been in all ages.
The psalm may be divided into three nearly equal parts. The first
pleads the necessity of God's interposition, arising from his covenant relation to the sufferer, ver. 2-11 (1-10). The second argues the same
thing from the imminence of the danger, ver. 12-22 (11-21). The
third declares the glorious effects which must follow from an answer to the
foregoing prayer, ver. 23-32 (22-31). Ver. 12 (11) and 22 (21) form
connecting links between the first and second, second and third parts.
1. To the Chief Musician. On the hind of the morning. A Psalm by
David. Designed for the permanent use of the church, and therefore not
relating to mere individual or private interests. The second clause of the
inscription is one of those enigmatical titles in which David seems to have
delighted. See above, on Ps. v. 1, vii. 1, ix. 1, xvi. 1. The opinion
that it refers to the melody or subject of some other poem, is less probable
than that it describes the theme of this. The hind may then be a poetical
figure for persecuted innocence, and the morning, or rather dawn, for deliverance after long distress. Compare 2 Sam. i. 19, Prov. vi. 5, Isa.
xiii. 14, with Isa. viii. 20, xlvii. 11, lviii. 8, 10, Hos. vi. 3, x. 15. The
use of such emblems here is less surprising, as this psalm abounds in
figures drawn from the animal kingdom. See below, ver. 13 (12), 14
(13), 17 (16), 21 (20), 22 (21).
2 (1). My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, far from my deliverance, the words of my roaring? In this verse and the next we have the
sufferer's complaint, the summary description of his danger and distress,
the highest point of which is here described as the sense of desertion or
abandonment on God's part. "Why hast thou left me so to suffer, that I
cannot but consider myself finally deserted? "The use of these words by
our Saviour on the cross, with a slight variation from the Hebrew (Mat.
xxvii. 46, Mark xv. 34), shews how eminently true the whole description is
of him, but does not make him the exclusive subject. The divine name
here used is the one descriptive of God's power (lxe), and may therefore be
considered as including the idea of my strength. "Why hast thou, whom
I regarded as my strength, my support, and my protector, thus forsaken
me in this extremity?" The last clause admits of several constructions.
"Far from my deliverance (are) the words of my roaring," i. e. they are
far from having the effect of saving me. Or the question may be repeated:
(Why art thou) far from my help and the words of my roaring" Or the
same idea may be expressed by a simple affirmation: "(Thou art) far from
VER. 2-6.]
PSALM XXII.
99
my help," &c. But the simplest construction is to put these words into
apposition with the object of address in the first clause, and throw the
whole into one sentence. "Why hast thou forsaken me, (standing or
remaining) far from my help, i. e. too far off to help and save me, or even
to hear the words of my roaring?" This last combination shews that although the figure of roaring is borrowed from the habits of the lower animals,
the subject to which it is applied must be a human one, and as such
capable of articulate speech. The roaring of the psalmist was not the
mere instinctive utterance of physical distress, but the complaint of an intelligent and moral agent. Compare Isaiah xxxviii. 14.
3 (2). My God, I call by day and thou wilt not answer, and by night
and there is no silence to me. The divine name here used is the common
Hebrew word for God, denoting an object of religious worship. I call,
literally I shall call, implying a sorrowful conviction that his cries will still
be vain. Thou wilt not hear or answer: the original expression is a verb
specifically appropriated to the favourable reception of a prayer. See above,
on Ps. iii. 5 (4). Day and night, i. e. without intermission. See above, on Ps. i. 2.
No silence implies no answer, and the parallelism is therefore an exact one.
4 (3). And thou (art) holy, inhabiting the praises of Israel. Here begins
his statement of the grounds on which he might claim to be heard, and all
which may be summed up in this, that Jehovah was the covenant God of
Israel. The word translated holy, in its widest sense, includes all that
distinguishes God from creatures, not excepting what are usually termed
his natural perfections. Hence the epithet is often found connected with
descriptions of his power, eternity, &c. See Isa. vi. 3; xl. 25, 26; lvii.
15; Hab. iii. 3; Ps. cxi. 9. The primary meaning of the verb appears to
be that of separation, which may here be alluded to, in reference to Jehovah's peculiar relation to the chosen people. Or it may be taken in its
wider and higher sense, leaving the other to be expressed in the last clause.
"Thou art the glorious and perfect God who inhabitest the praises of
Israel," i. e. dwellest among those praises, and art constantly surrounded by
them. Some prefer, however, to retain the primary meaning of the Hebrew
verb, sitting (enthroned upon) the praises of Israel.
5 (4). In thee trusted our fathers; they trusted and thou savedst them.
Not only was Jehovah the covenant God of Israel, and as such bound to
help his people, but he had actually helped them in time past. This is
urged as a reason why he should not refuse to help the sufferer in this case.
The plural form, our fathers, makes the prayer appropriate to the whole
church, without rendering it less so to the case of Christ, or to that of the
individual believer.
6 (5.) To thee they cried and were delivered; in thee they trusted, and were
not ashamed. This last word is continually used in Scripture for the disappointment and frustration of the hopes. The argument of this verse lies
in the tacit contrast between the case referred to and that of the sufferer
himself. As if he had said, "How is it then that I cry and am not delivered, I trust and am confounded or ashamed?"
7 (6). And I (am) a worm, and not a man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. The pronoun expressed at the beginning is emphatic.
I, as contrasted with my fathers. Our idiom would here require an adversative particle, but I, the use of which is much less frequent in Hebrew.
See above, on Ps. ii. 6. The insignificance and meanness of mankind in
general are elsewhere denoted by the figure of a worm (Job xxv. 6). But
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PSALM XXII.
[VER. 7-9.
even in comparison with these, the sufferer is a worm, i. e. an object of contemptuous pity, because apparently forsaken of God, and reduced to a
desperate extremity. (Compare Isa. xli. 14, and 1 Sam. xxiv. 15.) A
reproach of mankind, despised by them, and disgraceful to them.—The people,
not a single person or a few, but the community at large.
8 (7). All seeing me mock at me; they pout with the lip; they shake the
head. This is an amplification of the last clause of the verse preceding.
The verb in the second member of the sentence is of doubtful meaning. It
may either mean to stretch the mouth, or to part the lips with a derisive
grin. (See Ps. xxxv. 21, Job xvi. 10.) The shaking of the head may be
either a vague gesture of contempt, or the usual expression of negation, by
a lateral or horizontal motion, equivalent to saying "No, no!" i. e. there
is no hope for him. Either of these explanations is more probable than
that which applies the words to a vertical movement of the head or nodding,
in token of assent, and acquiescence in the sufferings of the sufferer, as just
and right. The peculiar gesture here described is expressly attributed by
the evangelists to the spectators of our Saviour's crucifixion (Mat. xxvii.
39, Mark xv. 29). It is one of those minor coincidences, which, although
they do not constitute the main subject of the prophecy, draw attention to
it, and help us to identify it.
9 (8). Trust in Jehovah! He will deliver him, he will save him, for he delights in him. The literal meaning of the first clause is, roll to (or on)
Jehovah, which would be unintelligible but for the parallel expressions in
Ps. xxxvii. 5, roll thy way upon Jehovah, and in Prov. xvi. 3, roll thy work
upon Jehovah, where the idea is evidently that of a burden cast upon another
by one who is unable to sustain it himself. This burden, in the first case,
is his way, i. e. his course of life, his fortune, his destiny, and in the other
case, his work i., e. his business, his affairs, his interest. In evident allusion to these places, the apostle Peter says, casting all your care upon him,
for he careth for you (1 Pet. v. 7). By these three parallels light is thrown
on the elliptical expression now before us, roll, i. e. thy burden or thy care
upon Jehovah.—A further difficulty is occasioned by the form of the original, which, according to usage, must be either the infinitive construct or
the second person of the imperative. But as these seem out of place in
such a context, some arbitrarily explain it as an absolute infinitive, or a
third person imperative, or change the form to that of a preterite. This
last is the construction in the Septuagint version retained in the New Testament (Mat. xxvii. 43), and really included in the Hebrew, but by no
means an exact representation of its form. Perhaps the best solution of the
syntax is to make this clause a quotation, or derisive repetition of the sufferer's own words, as if they had said, "This is he who was so fond of
repeating the precept, Trust in Jehovah! Let him now try its virtue in
his own case. He in whom he has trusted, and exhorted others to trust
also, will no doubt deliver him." The next two verbs are ironical futures,
not imperatives, and should be so translated.—The last words of the verse
(OB CpeHA) are always applied elsewhere to God's complacency in man, and
not to man's reciprocal delight in God. The Septuagint version, retained
in the New Testament, if he will (have) him, or if he will (deliver) him,
although not incorrect, is much inferior in strength to the original.—By appropriating
these words, the spectators of our Lord's sufferings identified themselves with the
wicked persecutors, by whom they are here supposed to be originally uttered.
10 (9). For thou didst draw me from the womb, making me trust upon the
VER. 10-14.]
PSALM XXII.
101
breasts of my mother. The argument from past time is here pushed still
further. God had not only shewn himself to be the God of the sufferer's
forefathers, but of the sufferer himself in early life. The for connects this
verse with the last clause of the one preceding. What his enemies ironically
said was seriously true. God had indeed delighted in him once, for it was
he that brought him into life, and through the perils of infancy. Thou
didst draw me, literally; thou (art or wast) my breaking forth, i. e. the cause
of it, as God is said to be the light, joy, strength of the believer, i. e. the
source or the dispenser of these blessings.—Made me trust, does not refer
to the literal exercise of confidence in God, which could not be asserted of
a suckling, but means gave me cause to trust or feel secure, in other words,
secured me, kept me safe. The original construction is, making me trust,
but the Hebrew infinitive and participle used in these two clauses may be
here represented by the past tense of the English verb.—As applied to the
whole church or chosen people, this verse may be considered as descriptive
of God's dealings with them at the exodus from Egypt, which is elsewhere
metaphorically represented as a birth. The direct and obvious reference,
however, is to individual birth and infancy.
11 (10). Upon thee was I cast from the womb; from the bowels of my
mother, my God (art) thou. Into thy arms I was at first received, as into
those of an affectionate parent. See Ruth iv. 16, and compare the opposite use of the same figure in Ezek. xvi. 5. In the last clause we are brought back to
the point from which we set out, the sufferer having, in the mean time, as it were,
established his right to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
12 (11). Be not far from me, for distress is near, for there is no helper.
Having shewn that he was justified in expecting that God would not forsake him in extremity, he now shews that the extremity exists. The first
clause constitutes the link of connection between the first and second subdivisions of the psalm. "Since, then, thou art my God, and as such
must be near in my distress, Oh be not far from me now, for my distress is
near, and there is no one else to help me."—Near is not put in opposition
to proximity or actual contact, but to distance. The particular form of
expression was suggested by the prayer in the first clause. It was no
time for God to be afar off, when trouble was so near, so close upon the
sufferer.—The second for may be subordinated to the first, and introduce
a reason for declaring that distress was near. But it is much more natural to make the two co-relative, and understand the second as suggesting
an additional reason for the prayer, be not far from me.
13 (12). Many bulls have compassed me, strong bulls of Bashan have
surrounded me. He now proceeds to amplify the last clause of the foregoing verse, by shewing that trouble was indeed at hand. The strength
and fierceness of his persecutors are expressed by comparing them to cattle
fed in the rich and solitary pastures of Bashan, where the absence of men
would of course increase their wildness. Corresponding to the noun in the
first clause is an epithet frequently applied to it in Hebrew.
14 (13). They have opened upon me their mouth, a lion tearing and roaring. The tropical nature of the language is evinced by the entire change
of figure in this verse. The same persons who before were bulls of Bashan
now appear as a ravening and roaring lion. There is no need of supplying
a particle of comparison, the absence of which in both these verses, by substituting metaphor for simile, adds greatly to the life of the description.
15 (14). Like water I am poured out, and all my bones are parted; my
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PSALM XXII.
[VER. 15, 16.
heart has become like wax, melted in the midst of my bowels. Similar terms
are used in Josh. vii. 5, Lam. ii. 19, to describe dismay and fear; but in
the case before us they seem rather descriptive of extreme weakness. See
Ps. lviii. 8 (7), 2 Sam. xiv. 14, and compare the symbolical action in 1 Sam.
vii. 6. The comparison with water is applied to moral weakness also in
Gen. xlix. 4. The parting of the bones may either denote dislocation or
extreme emaciation, making the bones prominent. In either case the essential idea is still that of desperate exhaustion and debility.
16 (15). Dried like the potsherd (is) my strength, and my tongue fastened
to my jaws, and to the dust of death thou wilt reduce me. The description
of debility is still continued. He is as destitute of vigour as a broken piece
of earthenware is of sap or moisture.—Fastened, literally, made to cleave
or stick, through dryness.—The dust of death, i. e. the grave, the place of
burial, or more generally, the debased, humiliated state of the dead.—Thou wilt place me
in it, or reduce me to it. The translation of this future as a preterite is not only
ungrammatical, but hurtful to the sense, as the idea evidently is, that this is something not
experienced already, but the end to which his sufferings are tending. The direct address to
God recognises him as the sovereign disposer, and men only as his instruments.
17 (16). For dogs have surrounded me, a crowd of evil-doers have beset
me, piercing my hands and my feet. He now resumes the description of
his persecutors, under figures borrowed from the animal kingdom. The
comparison with dogs is much less forcible to us than to an oriental reader,
because dogs in the east are less domesticated, more gregarious, wilder,
and objects not of affection, but abhorrence, as peculiarly unclean. In the
next clause the figurative dress is thrown aside, and the dogs described as
an assembly of malefactors. The first noun seems intended to suggest the
idea of a whole community or organised body as engaged in the persecution. See above, on people, in ver. 7 (6). This makes the passage specially appropriate to the sufferings of our Saviour at the hands both of the
mob and of the government. The Hebrew word is one of those applied in
the Old Testament to the whole congregation of Israel. (See above, on
Ps. i. 5, and compare Exod. xii. 3, xvi. 1, 2, 9, Num. xxvii. 17, Lev. iv. 15.)
The last clause, as above translated, contains a striking reference to our
Saviour's crucifixion, which some have striven to expunge, by denying that
the ancients nailed the feet as well as the hands to the cross. But although
there is a singular absence of explicit declaration on the subject, both in
the classical and sacred writers, the old opinion, that the feet were pierced,
may be considered as completely verified by modern investigation and discussion. So far, therefore, as the question of usage is concerned, we can
have no difficulty in referring this clause to our Saviour's crucifixion, and
regarding it as one of those remarkable coincidences, some of which have
been already noticed, all designed and actually tending to identify our Lord
as the most prominent subject of the prophecy. It is very remarkable, however, that no citation or application of the clause occurs in any of the gospels. It is also worthy of remark that the clause, thus explained, although
highly appropriate to one part of our Saviour's passion, is, unlike the rest
of the description, hardly applicable, even in a figurative sense, to the case
of any other sufferer. Even supposing the essential idea to be merely that
of wounds inflicted on the body, it seems strange that it should be expressed
in the specific and unusual form of piercing the hands and the feet. On
further inspection it appears that, in order to obtain this meaning, we must
either change the text (UrxEKA or yrexEKA for yrixEKA) or assume a plural form
VER. 17-19.]
PSALM XXII.
103
so rare that some grammarians deny its existence altogether (yrixEKA for
MyrixEKA), and an equally rare form of the participle (MyrixEKA for MyriKA),
and a meaning of the verb itself which nowhere else occurs, but must be
borrowed from a cognate root (rUK for hrAKA); an accumulation of grammatical and lexicographical anomalies, which cannot be assumed without the
strongest exegetical necessity, and this can exist only if the words admit of
no other explanation more in accordance with analogy and usage. Now
the very same form in Isa. xxxviii. 13, is unquestionably used to mean like
the lion, and a slight modification of the same, in Num. xxiv. 9, Ezek.
xxii. 25, like a lion. This idea would be here the more appropriate, because
the psalm abounds in such allusions, and because the lion is expressly
mentioned both before and afterwards. See above, ver. 14 (13), and below,
ver. 22 (21). The sense would then be: "they surround my hands and
my feet, as they would a lion," or, "as a lion would," i. e. with the strength
and fierceness of a lion. The hands and feet may be mentioned as the
parts used in defence and flight. That the mention of these parts, after
all, in connection with the lion is not altogether natural, cannot fairly be
denied, and this objection should have all the weight to which it is entitled.
But whether it can outweigh the grammatical difficulties that attend the
other construction, is a serious question, which ought not to be embarrassed
by any supposed conflict with New Testament authority, since no citation of
the clause occurs there. It may even be possible to reconcile the two interpretations by supplying a verb and giving yrixEKA its usual meaning. "Like
the lion (they have wounded) my hands and my feet." The point of comparison would then be the infliction of sharp wounds in those parts of the
body, an idea common to the habits of the lion, and to the usages of crucifixion.
18 (17). I tell all my bones (while) they look and stare upon me. The
pronoun of the last clause is expressed in Hebrew, which removes the
ambiguity of the construction, by shewing that the subject of the following
verbs is not the bones of the preceding clause, but something more remote,
namely, the sufferer's enemies and persecutors. The ambiguity of the
English word tell corresponds to that of the Hebrew (rPesaxE), which means
both to number and to relate, to count and to recount. Some suppose,
not improbably, that this verse presents the sufferer as stripped by his
enemies, and looking with grief and wonder at his own emaciation, while
they gaze at it with delight, as the Hebrew phrase implies. See below, on
Ps. xxvii. 13.
19 (18). They (are about to) divide my garments for themselves, and on
my clothing they (are ready to) cast lots. This is the last stroke necessary
to complete the picture. Having stripped him, nothing more is left but to
appropriate his garments, whether from cupidity or in derision The futures
intimate that things can go no further without actual loss of life, and that
the case is therefore an extreme one. The providential realisation of this
ideal scene in our Lord's history is expressly mentioned by all the four
evangelists (Mat. xxvii. 35, Mark xv. 24, Luke xxiii. 34, John xix. 23, 24).
This makes their silence as to ver. 17 (16) the more remarkable.
20 (19). And thou, Jehovah, be not far; my strength! to my assistance
hasten. The pronoun in the first clause is emphatic. "Such is the conduct of my enemies; but as for thee, O Lord, be not far from me." The
word translated strength is used in this place only, and apparently in refer-
104
PSALM XXII.
[VER. 20-25.
ence to the name of God with which the psalm begins (ylixe) and to the
word hind (tl,y.,xa) in the title, both which are akin to it in etymology.
21 (20). Free from the sword my life (or soul), from the hand of the dog
my lonely one (or only one). The sword is a general expression for lifedestroying agents. See 2 Sam. xi. 24,25, where it is applied to archery.
—My life, my soul, i. e. myself considered as a living person.—The apparent
solecism, hand of the dog, shews that both terms are figurative, or as one has
quaintly expressed it, that the dog meant is a dog with hands. See above,
on ver. 17 (16), where the plural dogs is co-extensive in its meaning with
the ideal or collective singular in this place.—My only (life), the only one
I have to lose, is a good sense in itself, both here and in Ps. xxxv. 17; but
the analogy of Ps. xxv. 16, and lxviii. 7 (6), recommends the sense of
solitary, lonely, which is admissible in all the places.
22 (21). Save me from the mouth of the lion, and from the horns of the
unicorns thou hast heard (or answered) me. The petition in the first clause
is directly followed by an expression of confident assurance that his prayer
will be answered, or rather that it is already heard, corresponding to the
figurative expression in ver. 3 (2), thou wilt not hear (or answer), where
the same Hebrew verb is used.—From the horns denotes of course the
place from which the prayer preceded, not the answer. The figure is a
strong one for the midst of danger. The name of any wild horned animal
would be appropriate. The precise sense of the Hebrew word (Mymire) is
therefore comparatively unimportant. The common version unicorns rests
on the authority of the Septuagint; but although the unicorn, long regarded
as a fabulous animal, has now been proved to be a real one, we have no
reason to believe that it was ever known in Palestine, or to dissent from
the common judgment of the learned, that the Hebrew word denotes the
wild bull or a species of the antelope, most probably the former.
23 (22). I will declare thy name to my brethren, in the midst of the assembly
I will praise thee. His certainty of audience and acceptance is further
expressed by declaring his intention to give thanks for it.—To declare
God's name, in Scripture usage, is to celebrate the acts by which he has
manifested his perfections. See above, on Ps. v. 12 (11).—The assembly,
or congregation of Israel, to which the Hebrew word is constantly applied (Lev. xvi.
17, Deut. xxxi. 30), whether present in person or by their representatives (2 Chron.
xx. 13-15). The same sense of the word occurs below, Ps. xxxv. 18, xl. 10 (9). The
idea here is that his praise shall not be merely private or domestic, but public.
24 (23). Fearers of Jehovah, praise him! All the seed of Jacob, glorify
him! And be afraid of him, all the seed of Israel! These words are
uttered, as it were, in the midst of the ideal congregation mentioned in the
verse preceding. That the call, though formally addressed to the whole
race, was really intended for the spiritual Israel, excluding wicked Israelites
and including the righteous of whatever name or nation, is indicated by the
words of the first clause, while the last shews that the praise required is not
familiar, but in the highest degree reverential.
25 (24). For he has not despised and not abhorred the suffering of the
sufferer, and has not hid his face from him, and, in his crying to him, heard.
This is the ground on which the fearers of the Lord are called upon to
praise him, namely, the faithful execution of his promise to the sufferer in
this case, and the pledge thereby afforded of like faithfulness in every other.
26 (25). From thee (shall be) my praise in (the) great congregation; my
VER. 26-28.]
PSALM XXII.
105
vows I will pay before his fearers, those who fear him. From thee is something more than of thee. It does not merely indicate the theme or subject,
but the source or cause of his thanksgiving. "It is thou who givest me
occasion thus to praise thee." In the last clause there seems to be a reference to the sacrificial feasts connected with the fulfilment of vows made in
distress or danger. (See Deut. xii. 18, xvi. 11.) These were occasions of
festivity, not only to the offerer and his nearest friends, but to a wide
circle of invited guests, which makes the metaphor peculiarly appropriate
in this place. The essential idea is the same as in ver. 23 (22).—His
fearers, worshippers, the true Israel, as distinguished from the mere natural
descendants of the patriarch.
27 (26). (Then) shall eat (thereof) the humble, and be satisfied; (then)
shall praise Jehovah those who seek him. May your heart live for ever!
The adverb then is here supplied in the translation, in order to retain the
Hebrew order of the sentence. The word thereof is introduced to remove
all ambiguity of syntax, and to connect the act of eating with the sacrificial
feast of the foregoing verse. —To seek God, in the dialect of Scripture, is to
seek to know him, and also to seek his favour, not only by specific acts of
prayer, but by the whole course of the life. See above, on Ps. xiv. 2.—
The concluding wish, your heart live for ever, comprehends an assurance
that it shall live. The heart is said to die, in cases of extreme grief and
distress. See 1 Sam. xxv. 37, and compare Ps. cix. 22. The objects of
address are those who seek and praise God. The sudden change of person
is analogous to that in ver. 26 (25), which begins from thee, and ends with
fearing him. That this is not an inadvertent irregularity, appears from its
recurrence in the next verse. —The humble and the seekers of Jehovah are
parallel descriptions of the same class, namely, true believers, those who
are elsewhere called the righteous.
28 (27). Remember and return to Jehovah shall all the ends of the earth,
and worship before thee all the kindreds of the nations. As the joyful effects
of this deliverance were not to be restricted to himself or his domestic circle,
but extended to the great congregation of God's people, so too we now read
that they shall not be confined to any one race, but made to embrace all.
The ends of the earth, here put for the remotest nations. See above, on
Ps. ii. 8. These are named as the least likely to be comprehended in the
promise, but of course without excluding those less distant. As if he had
said, the ends of the earth and all that is between them. In the other
clause, accordingly, we find as a parallel expression, not the furthest, but
all nations. They shall remember this deliverance, this exhibition of God's
faithfulness and might, and shall turn unto Jehovah, be converted to his
worship and his service. Some suppose an allusion to the great original
apostasy, or to the temporary casting off of the Gentiles: they shall remember
their original condition, and return unto the Lord, from whom they have
revolted. But this, though true and really implied, is not the strict sense
of the words, which would then have no perceptible connection with the
general subject of the psalm, and the immediate occasion of the praise which
it contains.—Worship, literally prostrate themselves, the accustomed oriental
indication both of civil and religious worship.—The form of expression in the last clause
is evidently borrowed from the patriarchal promise. Compare Gen. xii. 3, xxviii. 14.
29 (28). For unto Jehovah is the kingdom, and (he is) governor among
the nations. This will not be a gratuitous extension to the Gentiles of what
properly belongs to Israel alone, but a restoration of God's mercies, after
106
PSALM XXII.
[VER. 29-31.
ages of restriction, to their original and proper scope. For Jehovah is not
the king of Israel only, but of all mankind. See Rom. iii. 29.—The kingdom, i. e. general ecumenical dominion.—Governor, properly a participle,
ruling, the use of which may be intended to suggest that as he has always been their
governor de jure, so now he begins to govern them de facto, not with a providential sway,
which is invariable as well as universal, but with a spiritual sway, which is hereafter to be
co-extensive with the earth itself. Compare the similar expressions, Obad. 21, Zech. xiv.
9, and the still closer parallels, Ps. xcvi. 10, xcvii. 1, xcix. 1.
30 (29). They have eaten and worshipped—all the fat (ones) of the earth
—before him shall bend all going down (to) the dust, and (he who) his own
soul did not save alive. The distinction of ranks shall be as little regarded
at this feast as that of nations.—Eaten and worshipped, partaken of the
sacrificial feast in honour of this great salvation. Fat, a common oriental
figure for the prosperous, and especially the rich. These are particularly
mentioned to exhibit a peculiar feature of the feast in question, which was
not, like the sacrificial feasts of the Mosaic law, designed expressly for the
poor, though these are not excluded, as appears from the parallel clause.—
Going down to the dust, i. e. the dust of death, as in ver. 16 (15) above.
Compare the analogous expressions used in Ps. xxviii. 1, 4, 10 (3, 9), lxxxviii.
5 (4), cxv. 17, 7. The idea is, that this enjoyment shall be common
to the rich and those who are ready to perish, or as it is expressed in the
last clause, he who cannot keep his soul (or himself) alive, a strong expression
for the extreme of destitution. He who before, or a little while ago, no
longer kept himself alive, but was just about to perish, is now seen kneeling
at the sacrificial feast in honour of this great salvation.
31 (30). Posterity shall serve him; it shall be related of the Lord to the
(next) generation. The last restriction to be done away is that of time.
The effects of this salvation shall no more be confined to the present generation than to the higher classes of society, or the natural descendants of the
patriarchs.—A seed, i. e. posterity, the seed of those who witness or first
hear of the event.—Shall serve him, i. e. worship and obey Jehovah, the
same thing that is expressed by eating and bowing down in ver. 30 (29)
above. The means of this conversion shall be the perpetuated knowledge
of what God has done.—Generation is used absolutely, as in Ps. lxxi. 18,
where it means not this generation, but the next. The complete phrase
(NvrHx rvd) occurs below, Ps. xxviii. 14 (13), lxxviii. 4. The Lord. The
original is not Jehovah, but Adhonai, the divine name properly denoting
sovereignty. See above, on Ps. ii. 4, xxi. 2. The exposition above given
of the verse before us is equally agreeable to usage, and much better suited
to the context, than the one which makes it mean that a seed shall be reckoned by the Lord (as belonging) to the generation, i. e. to the generation of
his people. (See below, on Ps. xxiv. 6.) It is highly improbable that the
passive verb (rPasuy;) has a meaning wholly different from that of the corresponding active form (hrAP;saxE) in ver. 23 (22) above.
32 (31). They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people
born, that he hath done (it). The subjects of the first verbs are the seed
and generation of the preceding verse. They shall come into existence, shall
appear upon the scene. But even they shall not monopolise the knowledge
thus imparted, but communicate it to a people now unborn, but then born,
i. e. to their own successors. The construction of the participle as a future
is unnecessary, although not unauthorised by usage. See above, on Ps.
VER. 1, 2.]
PSALM XXIII.
107
xviii. 4 (3). Compare with this verse the beautiful figures of Ps. xix. 3 (2).
—His righteousness, including the faithful execution of his gracious promise. The last clause gives the substance of the declaration to be made,
to wit, that he has done what forms the subject of the whole psalm. A
similar ellipsis of the object, where the context readily supplies it, may be
found above in ver. 27, 28, 30 (26, 27, 29). To these words it is supposed
by some that our Lord alluded in his dying exclamation, IT IS FINISHED!
(John xix. 30). The allusion, though not obvious, is interesting, as it brings
the beginning and the end of this remarkable psalm into connection with
each other and with that affecting scene to which there are so many clear
and pointed references in the whole composition; thus completing, as it
were, the proof, already strong enough, that Christ is the great subject of
the psalm, as being the great type and representative of that whole class to
whom it ostensibly relates, but of whom some parts, and especially the last
five verses, are true only in a modified and lower sense.
PSALM XXIII.
As exquisite description of God's care over his people under the figure
of a shepherd and his flock, no doubt suggested by the writer's recollections
of his own pastoral experience, although probably composed at a much later
period of his life. The idea of the whole psalm is contained in ver. 1, carried
out and amplified in ver. 2-5, and again summed up, without continuing
the metaphor, in ver. 6. The psalm is so constructed as at the same time
to express the feelings of the Psalmist, and to serve as a vehicle for those
of every individual believer and of the whole body of God's people for
whose use it was intended.
1. A Psalm of David. Jehovah (is) my shepherd, I shall not want.
This is the general theme or idea of the whole psalm, that the believer's
relation to Jehovah carries with it necessarily the full supply of all his
wants. Spiritual gifts are neither excluded nor exclusively intended. No
nice distinction between these and temporal advantages is here made for
us, and none need be made by us. The comparison of God's care to that
of a shepherd is first used by Jacob, (Gen. xlviii. 15, xlix. 24), then by
Moses (Deut. xxxii. 6-12, compared with Ps. lxxviii. 52), both of whom,
like David, had themselves lived a pastoral life. From these the figure is
frequently borrowed by the later writers of the Old Testament. See Isa.
xl. 11, Ezek. xxxiv. 12, Micah vii. 14, Ps. lxxx. 2 (1), xcv. 7. This
endearing relation of Jehovah to his people was exercised under the old
dispensation by the agency of human or angelic messengers, but under the
new by Christ, of whom these were only types and representatives (Zech.
xiii. 7), and to whom the figure is expressly applied by himself (John x. 11),
and his apostles (1 Peter ii. 25, v. 4, Heb. xiii. 20). From him again, on
the principle of delegated representation, is derived the pastoral character
of Christian ministers (Eph. iv. 11). The future form, I shall not want,
includes the present, I do not want, with, an additional assurance that the
provision will be still continued. The form of expression is derived from
Deut ii. 7, viii. 9, and recurs below, Ps. xxxiv. 11 (10).
2. In pastures of verdure he will make me lie down; by waters of rest
(or repose) he will lead me. Here begins the amplification of the general
proposition in the foregoing verse. The first specification is, that he shall
not want healthful and delightful rest. This is expressed by figures bor-
108
PSALM XXIII.
[VER. 3, 4.
rowed from the exquisite enjoyment of a flock in verdant and well-watered
pastures. The allusion, in the first clause, is not to the supply of food,
which is mentioned afterwards in ver. 5, but to the refreshing rest and coolness of green meadows. The first noun properly means dwellings, but is
applied specifically to the dwellings of flocks, i. e. their pasture-grounds.
See below, Ps. lxv. 13 (12), and compare Amos i. 2, Jer. ix. 9 (10),
xxv. 87. The next word in Hebrew means the fresh tender grass, here
referred to, not as food, but in allusion to its cooling effect upon the eye
and the skin. This explanation is confirmed by the fact, that the act
expressed by the verb is not that of eating but of lying down. The verb
itself is one which specially denotes the lying down of animals (Gen. xxix. 2,
Num. xxii. 27, Isa. xi. 6), but is sometimes transferred to the human
subject (Isa. xiv. 30, Job. xi. 19), or to other objects (Gen. xlix. 25, Deut.
xxix. 19). By waters, not simply to them, but along them, which is one
of the senses of the Hebrew preposition, and affords a much more pleasing
image. By waters of rest we are not to understand still or quiet waters, a
sense which the Hebrew word has nowhere else, and which would here
suggest the idea of stagnation, or at least that of silence, which is far less
agreeable than that of an audible flow. The idea really conveyed is that
of waters, by or at which rest may be enjoyed. The repose is not that of
the waters themselves, but of the flocks reclining near them. The last
verb sometimes means to nourish, or more generally to provide for (Gen.
xlvii. 17, 2 Chron. xxxii. 22), and the Septuagint version so explains it
here. The idea would then be that the shepherd takes care of his flock, or
tends it, by the waters of repose. But a more specific act is described, and
therefore a more vivid image presented, by retaining the common version, leadeth,
which is fully sustained by the use of the same Hebrew verb in Exod. xv. 13,
2 Chron. xxviii. 15. The form, however, should be future, as in the preceding verse.
3. My soul he will restore; he will lead me in paths of right (or rectitude)
for his name's sake. To restore the soul, here as in Ps. xix. 8 (7), is to
vivify or quicken the exhausted spirit. Paths of right may either mean
right paths, as opposed to those which are devious and dangerous, or paths
of righteousness, not man's but God's, not ways of upright conduct on the
Psalmist's part, but ways of faithfulness on God's part. The righteousness
of God, so often appealed to by the ancient saints, includes his covenanted
mercy, the exercise of which, according to his promise, was ensured by his
essential rectitude. For his name's sake, not merely for his own sake, nor
for his own glory, but for the sake of what he has already done, the previous display of his perfections, which would be dishonoured by a failure
to fulfil his promises. See above, on Ps. xxii. 23 (22).
4. Also when I walk into (or through) the valley of death-shade, I will
not fear evil, for thou (wilt be) with me; thy rod and thy staff, they will
comfort me. He is sure, not only of repose, restoration, and guidance, but
of protection. The also shews that something new is to be added; not
only this which I have said, but more. The common version (yea, though
I walk) is too indefinite and hypothetical. The situation is not spoken of
as possible, but certain, though still future.—Death-shade is a strong poetical
expression for the profoundest darkness. See below, Ps. xliv. 20 (19).
The common version, shadow of death, conveys more than the original, and
fails to reproduce its compound form. The effect is heightened, by the
mention of a valley, as a deep place, often overhung with woods, and naturally darker than a plain or mountain. There may be some allusion to the
VER. 5, 6.]
PSALM XXIII.
109
dread of darkness on the part of sheep and other timid animals.—The rod
and the staff are mentioned, not as weapons of defence, but as badges of
the shepherd and as tokens of his presence.
5. Thou wilt spread before me a table in the presence of my adversaries;
thou hast anointed with oil my head; my cup (is) overflowing. To the
negative benefits before enumerated, he now adds the positive advantage of
abundant sustenance. Instead of retaining the image of a sheep and its
pasture, the Psalmist substitutes that of a table furnished for a human guest.
The connection, however, is so close and the metaphors so near akin, that
the general impression remains undisturbed.—In the presence of my enemies
implies in spite of them; they are forced to witness my enjoyment without
being able to disturb it.—Anointed, literally fattened, in allusion to the
richness and abundance of the unction. This was a familiar part of an
ancient festal entertainment, and is therefore frequently employed in Scripture as a symbol of joy. See below, on Ps. xlv. 8 (7). My cup, my
beverage, which, with food, makes up the supply of necessary nutriment,
but with the additional suggestion of exhilaration. See above, on Ps. xvi. 5.
—Overflowing, literally overflow, or abundant drink. The change of tense
is significant and expressive. What he had just before confidently foreseen,
he now describes as actually realised.
6. Only goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and
I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah to length of days. The specifications
of the four preceding verses are followed by another summary expression of
the general idea propounded in the first verse, but with a change of form.
The Hebrew particle at the beginning has its usual and proper sense of only
or exclusively. The favour which he shall experience is so great that he
regards it as unmixed, or the exceptions as unworthy of consideration.—
The word translated goodness may be understood to mean good fortune,
good experienced, as a cognate form does in Ps. xvi. 2; but the other version
agrees better with the parallel expression, mercy. The verb to follow or
pursue seems to be chosen in allusion to the persecution of his enemies,
and as a strong expression for an unbroken series or succession of divine
benefactions. Dwelling in the house of Jehovah does not mean frequenting
his sanctuary, but being a member of his household and an inmate of his
family, enjoying his protection, holding communion with him, and subsisting
on his bounty. See above, on Ps. xv. 1.
PSALM XXIV.
THIS psalm consists of two distinct and, it may seem at first sight, unconnected parts. The first praises God as the universal sovereign by right
of creation, ver. 1, 2, and describes the moral requisites to intimate communion with him, ver. 3-6. The second represents him, in a striking
figurative form, as entering some place provided for his residence, ver. 7-10.
The idea common to both parts is the supremacy of God, both in holiness
and majesty. There is no historical occasion to which such a composition
would seem more appropriate than the removal of the ark to mount Zion
by David, as described in 2 Sam. vi. and 1 Chron. xv. And as the first
part of this psalm carries out the idea of dwelling in God's house, expressed
at the close of Ps. xxiii., it is not an improbable conjecture, though by no
means a necessary supposition, that the two psalms were designed to form
a pair, and to be sung upon the same occasion; the first, it may be, as the
110
PSALM XXIV.
[VER. 1-4.
ark left its former resting-place, the second as it drew near to its new one.
The resemblance of ver. 3-6 to Ps. xv. make it not improbable that that
psalm also was composed for use on a similar if not the same occasion.
The supposition of alternate choirs in the case before us appears to be a
useless and gratuitous refinement. The sanctuary of the old economy,
both in its permanent and temporary forms, was intended to symbolise the
doctrine of God's special presence and residence among his people; and as
this was realised in the advent of Christ, the psalm before us has a permanent interest and use, and in a certain sense may be described as Messianic.
1. To David, i. e. belonging to him as its author. See above, on Ps.
iii. 1, iv. 1, v. 1. A Psalm. To Jehovah (belongs) the earth and its fulness,
the world and (those) dwelling in it. Its fulness, that which fills it, its contents. The word translated world is a poetical equivalent to earth, denoting specially, according to its etymology, the productive portion of the
earth, and thus corresponding indirectly to the Greek oi]koume<nh, or inhabited
earth. This assertion of Jehovah's sovereign propriety is intended to shew
that he was not the God of Israel only, but of the whole world, and thereby entitled to
be served with reverence and purity, an idea more distinctly brought out afterwards.
2. For He above the seas has settled it, and above the streams has fixed it.
The pronoun is emphatic; He and no one else. See below, Ps. c. 3. He
has made the earth what it is, and is therefore the sovereign, both of it and
its inhabitants. The idea is not that of subterraneous waters bearing up the
land, but simply that of the habitable earth, raised above the surface of the
waters which surround it. The use of the Hebrew preposition (lfa) is the
same as in Ps. i. 3. There is obvious allusion to the rescue of the dry
land from the universal prevalence of water, as described in the Mosaic cosmogony, Gen. i. 9, 10. The sense of the two verses, taken in connection,
is that since Jehovah is the God who collected the waters, and caused the
dry land to appear, he is the rightful sovereign of the habitable earth, and
of those whom it sustains.
3. Who shall go up into the mountain of Jehovah, and who shall stand in his
holy place? Since he is thus, by right of creation, the universal sovereign,
which of his creatures shall enjoy the happiness and honour of appearing in
his presence! The hill of the Lord, or mountain of Jehovah, is mount
Zion, henceforth to be hallowed as his earthly dwelling-place. The verb in
the last clause does not simply mean to stand, but to stand fast, to maintain
one's ground. See above, on Ps. i. 5. It may, therefore, be implied, that
some who gain a bodily access to the consecrated place shall not be suffered
to remain there. It is indeed implied in the whole interrogation that mere
bodily presence on mount Zion might be wholly unconnected with spiritual
access to the holy place.
4. The clean of hands and pure of heart, who has not lifted up his soul to
vanity, and has not sworn to fraud (or falsehood). This is the answer to
the foregoing question, given by the Psalmist himself. There is no more
need of supposing two speakers than in the rhetorical interrogations which
are so abundant in Demosthenes and other animated writers. All moral
purity is here referred to the hands, the tongue, and the heart, as the organs
of external action, speech, and feeling. The same distribution may be made
in the commandments of the decalogue. The second clause is very obscure.
The form of expression is directly borrowed from the third commandment
(Exod. xx. 7), where the common version (take in vain) is neither intelli-
VER. 5, 6.]
PSALM XXIV.
111
gible in itself nor an exact copy of the original. The precise construction) (xv;wAla) is found in these two places only; but a cognate one (xWAnA
lx,) occurs repeatedly in the sense of setting the heart or the desires on
something (See Deut. xxiv. 15, Prov. xix. 18, Ps. xxv. 1, lxxxvi. 4,
cxliii. 8). The only two plausible interpretations of the former phrase are
that which makes xv;wA.la a mere poetical variation of xv;w.Aha lxa and that
which gives xv;w.Ala xWAnA, in both places, the sense of carrying to vanity, i. e.
bringing the name of God or the soul of man into connection with a falsehood, whether this be taken in its strict sense, or as meaning an unlawful or
unsatisfying object of affection. It seems more natural, however, to explain
the case before us, not by the single one in which the combination l; xWAnA
occurs, but by the many in which the same verb is connected with the same
noun although by a different preposition. The meaning of the clause will
then be, who has not set his heart on falsehood, or on any false and sinful
object. That false swearing is particularly mentioned in the last clause cannot prove that it is exclusively intended here, as parallel clauses very
seldom say precisely the same thing.—Sworn to falsehood, i. e. made a false
oath, or sworn for deceit, i. e. with a fraudulent design.
5. He shall carry away a blessing from Jehovah, and righteousness from
the God of his salvation. The first verb (xWA.yi) seems to have been chosen with
some reference to its use in the foregoing verse, but not so as to require us
to take it in precisely the same sense. A blessing from Jehovah, not merely
from man, with allusion, as some think, to David's blessing the people,
2 Sam. vi. 18.—Righteousness may either mean a practical justification, an
attestation of his innocence afforded by his experience of God's favour; or
the gift of righteousness itself, the highest and most precious of all gifts,
and one which always follows upon justification.—The God of his salvation,
i. e. God his Saviour, or his God, who is a Saviour. See above, on Ps. xviii. 47 (46).
6. This is the generation seeking him; the seekers of thy face (are) Jacob,
i. e. the true Jacob, the true Israel. This refers to the description in
ver. 6.—Seeking him (in the singular) is the reading in the text; the marginal reading is those seeking him, which amounts to the same thing. To
seek God and to seek his face, i. e., his countenance or presence, are common
phrases for the earnest endeavour to secure his favour, Ps. xxvii. 8, cv. 4,
Hos. v. 15, 2 Sam. xxi. 1. Our language does not furnish equivalents to
the two Hebrew verbs employed to express this idea in the verse before
us.—The connection of the last word with the rest of the sentence is
obscure. Some make it a vocative: "who seek thy face, O Jacob!" i. e.
who seek the countenance and friendship of God's people. Or, "who
seek thy face, O (God of) Jacob!" a very harsh ellipsis, which could only
be justified by exegetical necessity. The best sense is yielded by the construction first proposed, or by another, which differs from it only in dispensing with a verb and throwing all into one sentence "This is the
generation seeking thee, those seeking thy face (O Jehovah), (the true)
Israel." The sudden apostrophe to God himself makes the sentence more
impressive without making it obscure.—The distinction here made between
the nominal and real Israel was peculiarly necessary on occasions which
were suited to flatter the natural pride of the chosen people, such as that
of Jehovah's solemn entrance into Zion, as the peculiar God of Israel. To
112
PSALM XXIV.
[VER. 7-10.
correct this abuse of their extraordinary privileges, two great doctrines are
here set forth; that their God was the God of the whole earth; and, secondly,
that he was holy, and required holiness as a term of admission to his presence. The idea of a true and false Israel reappears in the New Testament, and is
propounded with peculiar distinctness and emphasis by Paul in Rom. ix. 6, 7.
7. Lift up, O gates, your heads, and be lilted up, ye doors of perpetuity!
And in will come the king of glory! The procession is now commonly
supposed to have arrived at the entrance of the citadel or walled town of
Zion, the acropolis of Jerusalem. The gates of this acropolis are those
personified in this fine apostrophe. They are called perpetual or everlasting
on account of their antiquity, and not in mere anticipation of their subsequent duration, as in 1 Kings viii. 13. They are called upon to raise their
heads, that he who is about to enter may not debase himself by stooping to
pass through them. The connection of the clauses is correctly given, but
in a form much more agreeable to the English than the Hebrew idiom, by
translating the future as a subjunctive tense, that the king of glory may
come in. The king of glory is a phrase analogous to hill of holiness, strength
of salvation, &c., and means glorious king.
8. Who is this, the king of glory? Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle (or a mighty warrior). The supposition of alternate
or responsive choirs is as unnecessary here as in ver. 4 above. It is the
case, so common in all animated speech and composition, of a speaker asking a question simply for the purpose of answering it himself. As if he
had said, "Do you ask who this king of glory is? It is the Lord," &c.
The common version, Who is this king of glory? does not fully convey the
force of the original, the sense of which is, "who is this (of whom you
speak as) the king of glory?" The word translated mighty, although properly an adjective, is continually used as a noun substantive, and is the
nearest equivalent in Hebrew to the classical term hero. But the simple
majesty of David's language would be marred in a translation by the use of
this word, and still more by that of the combination, martial or military
hero, in the other clause. The idea, both in this and other places, is borrowed from the Song of Moses, Exod. xv. 3.
9. Lift up, O gates, your heads, and lift (them) up, ye doors of perpetuity, and in will come the king of glory. In order to conclude with an
emphatic repetition of the epithets in ver. 8, it was necessary that the
question in that verse should be repeated likewise; and in order to this
the summons in ver. 7 is repeated here, but, as in most like cases, with a
variation, which, though slight, relieves the repetition from entire sameness. The variation here consists in the exchange of the passive form, be
lifted up, for the corresponding active, lift up, so your heads, the object
being readily suggested by the other clause.
10. Who is this, the king of glory? Jehovah (God) of Hosts, he is the king
of glory. Selah. Between the question here and in ver. 8 the only variation is one which cannot well be imitated in translation. For the simple
Hebrew phrase (hz,-ymi) Who is this? we have here the fuller form (xUh ymi
hz,), in which the personal pronoun is interposed between the interrogative
and demonstrative, so as to suggest the two forms, Who is he? and Who is
this? though really constituting but a single question, as the personal pronoun (xUh), in Hebrew usage, often serves as an index of the substantive
when not expressed.—There is a more material variation in the answer,
VER. 10.]
PSALM XXIV.
113
where, instead of the two phrases, Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah
mighty in battle, the Psalmist substitutes the single but still more expressive title, Jehovah Zebaoth, or of Hosts. In Exodus xii. 41, Israel is called
the hosts of Jehovah; but a much more frequent designation is the host or
hosts of heaven, sometimes applied to the heavenly bodies, especially as
objects of idolatrous worship (Deut. iv. 19, xvii. 3, 2 Kings xvii. 16, Isa.
xxxiv. 4, Jer. xxxiii. 22, Zeph. i. 5, Dan. viii. 10), and sometimes to the
angels (Jos. v. 14, 15, 1 Kings xxii. 19, 2 Chron. xviii. 18, Ps. ciii. 21,
cxlviii. 2). In both these senses God may be described as the God of
Hosts, i. e. as the sovereign both of the material heavens and of their
inhabitants. From the use of hosts in Gen. ii. 1, some would extend it to the
earth as well as the heavens, and explain the compound title as denoting
Lord of the Universe, as Mohammed in the Koran speaks of Allah as the
Lord of Worlds. But this explanation, even supposing it to be correct as
to the single place on which it rests, derives no countenance from usage
elsewhere. Still less admissible is that which makes it simply mean the
God of Battles or the God of War, a name and an idea much less scriptural than heathenish. The phrase Jehovah Zebaoth does not occur in the
Pentateuch, Joshua or Judges, from which some have inferred that it was
afterwards introduced in opposition to the worship of the heavenly bodies, and
of the spirits which were supposed to govern and inhabit them. According to
the usage of the Hebrew language, Jehovah, as a proper name, cannot be construed with a genitive directly, nor is it ever so connected with any other
noun. The anomaly can only be removed by making Zebaoth itself a
proper name, or by supplying the word God between it and Jehovah. The
first solution may appear to be favoured by the sabaw<q of the Septuagint,
retained in Rom. ix. 29 and James v. 4. But the other is proved to be
the true one by such passages as Hos. xii. 6 (5), Amos iv. 13, where we
have the full form, Jehovah God of Hosts. Compare Ps. lix. 6 (5), lxxx.5 (4),
lxxxiv. 9 (8).—This description of Jehovah as the God of heaven no less
than of earth, while it sensibly strengthens the expressions of ver. 8, and
thus removes the appearance of a mere tautological reiteration, at the same
time brings us back in the conclusion to the point from which we set out
in ver. 1, to wit, the universal sovereignty of God. The whole psalm is then
brought to a solemn and sonorous close by making the answer echo the
terms of the interrogation, He is the king of glory! These points of difference between ver. 8 and 10 impart a beautiful variety to the repeated
sentence, without impairing in the least the rhetorical or musical effect
of the repetition itself, which is followed only by the customary indication of a pause, both in the sense and the performance. See above, on
Ps. iii. 3 (2).
PSALM XXV.
THE first of the alphabetical psalms, in which the verses begin with the
different Hebrew letters in their order, an arrangement peculiar to those
psalms, in which a single theme or idea is repeated under various forms,
and, as it were, in a series of aphorisms. Now and then, in order to complete the expression of the thought, the series of the letters is neglected,
either by repeating or omitting one. In this psalm, for example, two successive verses begin with x, and two with r, while v and q are left out.
The first verse, however, does not properly belong to the alphabetical
114
PSALM XXV.
[VER. 1-6.
series, but constitutes one sentence with the short verse at the end, which
is added after the completion of the alphabet. The theme which runs
through this psalm is deliverance from enemies, occasionally blended with
a prayer for the divine forgiveness.
1. By David. Unto thee, Jehovah, my soul will I lift up, or as some
explain it, bring or carry. All agree, however, that the essential idea is
that of confident desire. See above, on Ps. xxiv. 4, and compare Ps.
lxxxvi 4, cxliii. 8, below, where the phrase occurs again. The sentiment
expressed is that of settled confidence in God, to the exclusion of all other helpers.
2. My God, in thee have I trusted, let me not be ashamed; let not my
enemies triumph over me, or more exactly, with respect to me. As the future
verb of the preceding verse implies a fixed determination to confide in God
hereafter, so the preterite in this verse indicates that such trust has been
exercised already. The present is included under both forms.—Ashamed,
disappointed, defeated in my plans and expectations. See above, on Ps.
xxii. 6 (5).—The last clause shews that suffering from enemies was in the
Psalmist's mind throughout.
3. Likewise all (those) waiting for thee shall not be ashamed, ashamed
shall be the traitors without cause. He does not ask for any special dispensation in his own behalf, but merely for a fair participation in God's customary mode of dealing with the whole class of which he is a member, here
described as those waiting for God, i. e. hoping in him, awaiting the fulfilment of his promises. The modern English sense of waiting on is too
restricted, though the phrase once exactly corresponded to the Hebrew.—
The position of the verbs, at the end and the beginning of successive
clauses, gives a peculiar turn to the sentence, which is lost in some translations.—Without cause qualifies the word immediately preceding, and
describes the enemy not only as perfidious, but as acting so gratuitously,
and without provocation. See above, on Ps. vii. 5 (4), and below, on Ps.
xxxv. 19, xxxviii. 20 (19), lxix. 5 (4).
4. Thy ways, Jehovah, make me know; thy paths teach me. As the
ways of God, throughout this psalm, are the same as in Deut. xxxii. 4,
namely his dispensations towards his people, the way in which he orders
their condition and disposes of their lot, the teaching prayed for must be
that of experience. "Let me know in my own case what it is to be guided
and protected and provided for by God himself." This meaning suits the
context better than that of moral guidance, which however is implied, if
not expressed.
5. Make me walk in thy truth and teach me, for thou (art) the God of my
salvation; for thee have I waited all the day. The obvious meaning of this
verse, interpreted according to New Testament and modern usage, would
be that of a prayer for divine instruction in religious truth or doctrine. But
the usage of the Psalms, and the preceding context, are in favour of explaining truth to mean the veracity of God, or the faithful performance of
his promises. See Ps. xxx. 10 (9), lxxi. 22, xci. 4. The teaching asked
is then experimental teaching, or the actual experience of God's faithfulness.—The God of my salvation, or my Saviour God. See above, on Ps.
xviii. 47 (46). —I have waited. This is no new or untried exercise of faith,
to be attempted for the first time, but one with which I have been long
familiar.—All the day, continually, always.
6. Remember thy mercies, O Jehovah, and thy favours, for from eternity
are they. The prayer for future favours is here founded upon those experi-
VER. 7-11.]
PSALM XXV.
115
enced already.— Of old is an inadequate translation of MlAOfme, and even in
the stronger form, ever of old, less exact and expressive than the literal
translation from eternity, to which there is the less objection here, as the
words relate not merely to God's acts but to his attributes.
7. The sins of my youth and my transgressions (O) remember not; according to thy mercy remember thou me, for the sake of thy goodness, O Jehovah!
Among the mercies which he craves, the most important is the pardon of
his sins, not only in itself considered, but as that without which all the
others must be worthless. The sins of his youth are mentioned as the
earliest in date, and probably as those committed with the least restraint,
at an age when reflection is subordinate to passion. Compare Job xiii. 26,
2 Tim. ii. 22. Besides the obvious reference to the youthful sins of individuals, there may be also an allusion to the national iniquities of Israel,
committed in the period of their childhood as a people, namely, that of
their sojourn in the wilderness. See below, on ver. 22, and compare Deut. ix. 7.
8. Good and upright (is) Jehovah; therefore will he guide sinners in the
way. Not only the goodness, but the rectitude of the divine nature requires
the exercise of covenanted mercy. The second epithet is borrowed from
Deut xxxii. 4.—The way meant in the last clause is the way of safety or
salvation. What is meant may be either that God guides sinners into it
by converting them, or that he guides those sinners in it who are still his
people, as the same person claims to be both righteous and a sinner in Ps.
xli. 5, 13, (4, 12). Hence perhaps he uses the indefinite term sinners, not
the distinctive phrase the sinners, or the more emphatic epithet, the wicked.
9. He will guide humble (sinners) in justice, and teach humble (sinners)
his way. The common version of Myvnf, meek, is too restricted and descriptive
of inere temper. The Hebrew word is the nearest equivalent to humble in
its strong religious sense. The omission of the article may be explained as
a poetic licence, and the word translated the humble, so as to include the
whole class. But the intimate connection between this verse and the one
before it, makes it more natural to take Myvnf as a description of the sinners mentioned in ver. 8, who are then of course to be regarded as penitent
believing sinners, i. e. as true converts. In justice, i. e. in the exercise of
justice, as before explained. The way and the teaching are the same as in
the foregoing context, namely, those of Providence.
10. All the paths of Jehovah (are) mercy and truth to the keepers of his
covenant and his testimonies. The paths of Jehovah are the paths in which
he walks himself, in other words, the ways in which he deals with his creatures.—Truth, veracity, fidelity. See above, on ver. 5. A similar combination occurs, John i. 14. The last clause shews that the preceding
promises are limited to those who are in covenant with God.—Keepers,
observers, those obeying.—His covenant, the commands to which his promise is annexed. The same are called his testimonies against sin and in
behalf of holiness. See above, on Ps. xix. 8 (7).
11. For the sake of thy name (wilt thou do this), and wilt pardon my
iniquity because it is great. The form of the verb (TaH;lasAv;) is one that is
commonly preceded by a future, which may here be readily supplied, so as
to make the first clause refer to the preceding promises. For thy name's
sake, for the honour of thy nature and thy attributes, as heretofore revealed
in act. See above on Ps. xxiii. 3. The emphatic pronoun at the end
(xUh-bra) may possibly refer to the remoter antecedent, as in Ps. xxii.
116
PSALM XXV.
[VER. 12-17.
18 (17). The sense will then be, "and forgive my iniquity because that
name is great." (Compare Mal. i. 11.) There is nothing ungrammatical,
however, in the usual construction, which also agrees better with the usage
of the adjective (bra), as denoting rather quantity than elevation, and with
the parallel phrase, much transgression (bra fwaP,), in Ps. xix. 14 (13).
12. Who (is) the man fearing Jehovah? Be will guide him in the way
he shall choose. In the first clause the form of the original is highly idiomatic; who (is) this, the man, a fearer of Jehovah? See above, on Ps.
xxiv. 8. —The ellipsis of the relative in the last clause is common to both
idioms.—He guides him, and will guide him. There is not only an affirmation, but a promise. The way, as in the foregoing context, is the providential way
in which God directs the course of a man's life. His choosing it implies not only
sovereign authority, but a gracious regard to the interests of his servant.
13. His soul in good shall lodge, and his seed shall possess the land.
The parallelism between soul and seed seems to shew that by his soul we
are to understand himself, for which the Hebrew has no appropriate expression. The promise, then, includes both himself and his posterity. To
lodge, to be at home, to dwell at ease, and by implication, to abide or continue undisturbed. In good, not goodness, but good fortune or prosperity.
The verb, translated shall possess, denotes specifically to inherit, or possess
as an inheritance, i. e. from generation to generation, in perpetual succession.
The land, to wit, the land of Canaan; and as this was the standing promise of the law, uttered even in the decalogue (Exod. xx. 12), it became
a formula for all the blessings implicitly embraced in the promise of Canaan
to the ancient Israel, and is so used even by our Lord himself, (Mat. v. 5.)
14. The friendship of Jehovah is to (those) fearing him, and his covenant
to make them know. The word translated friendship means originally a
company of persons sitting together, Ps. cxi. 1; then familiar conversation,
Ps. lv. 15 (14); then confidential intercourse, intimacy, friendship, Prov.
iii. 32; then a confidence or secret, Prov. xi. 13. The last sense is commonly preferred in the English version, even When one of the others would
be more appropriate, as in this case, where the sense of intimacy, friendship, seems required by the context. The last clause is ambiguous, and
may either mean, his covenant is designed to be known by them, or his
covenant is designed to make them know, i. e. his way; or in general, to
give them knowledge. To make them know his covenant is a forced construction, and forbidden by the collocation of the Hebrew words. The
meaning of the whole verse seems to be, that Jehovah condescends to hold
familiar intercourse with those who fear him, and enters into covenant relation with them, for the purpose of making them know all that they need
know for his service or their own advantage.
15. My eyes (are) always towards Jehovah; for he will bring out from
the net my feet. The first clause expresses settled trust and constant expectation. The figure of a net is a favourite one for dangers arising from the
craft and spite of enemies. See above, on Ps. ix. 16 (15), x. 9.
16. Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me, for lonely and distressed
(am) I. The prayer to turn implies that his face was before averted, a
common figure in the Psalms for the suspension or withholding of God's
favour. See above, on Ps. iv. 7 (6).—The word translated lonely is the
same that occurs above, Ps. xxii. 21 (20).
17. The troubles of my heart have they enlarged; from my distresses do
VER. 18-22.]
PSALM XXV.
117
thou bring me out. The plural of the first clause is indefinite, equivalent to
a passive construction in English, are enlarged. (Compare the common
version of Luke xii. 20.) It does not refer even to his enemies specifically,
but to all others, as distinguished from his lonely self, and from his sole deliverer.
18. See my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. So long
as God leaves him to endure, he is conceived of as not seeing his condition.
The prayer that he will see includes the prayer that he will save. The
renewed prayer for forgiveness in the last clause seems again to recall to
mind the intimate connection between suffering and sin.
19. See my enemies, for they are many, and (with) hatred of violence
have hated me. The agency of wicked foes in causing his distresses, which
had been referred to in ver. 2, 15, 17, is here again brought into view.
The word translated violence is very strong, including the ideas of injustice
and cruelty. See above, on Ps. xi. 6 (5), xviii. 49 (48).—The past tense
represents the enmity as something of long standing.
20. (O) keep my soul and deliver me; let me not be ashamed, for I have
trusted in thee. To keep is here to keep in safety, to preserve.—Ashamed,
confounded, disappointed. See above, on ver. 2. The word translated
trusted is not that employed in ver, 2, but the one which occurs in Ps. ii. 12,
and which originally means to seek a refuge or a hiding-place. See above,
on Ps. xi. 2 (1).
21. Integrity and rectitude shall preserve me, because I have waited for
thee. The first word means completeness or perfection (integritas), i. e.
freedom from essential defect. See above, on Ps. xviii. 21, 24 (20, 23).
Here, however, it may signify the perfect rectitude of God, which will not
suffer him to cast off or forsake those who wait for him, i. e. trustfully
expect the fulfilment of his promises.
22. Redeem, O God, Israel out of all his troubles! As the psalm was
designed, from the first, to be a vehicle of pious feeling and desire for the
whole church, it is here wound up with a petition shewing this extent of
purpose. The Psalmist prays no longer for himself, but for all Israel.
The peculiar name, Jehovah, which had hitherto been used exclusively, is
here exchanged for the generic name of God, perhaps in opposition to the
human adversaries of the Psalmist, and his total destitution of all human
help. This verse forms no part of the alphabetical series, but begins with the
same letter as ver. 16. Like the first verse, it consists of a single clause,
as if the two together were designed to constitute one sentence.
PSALM XXVI.
AN appeal to God's justice and omniscience, ver. 1-3, enforced by a disavowal of all sympathy and communion with the wicked, ver. 4-6, and a
profession of devotion to God's service, ver. 7, 8, with an earnest prayer to
be delivered from the death of those whose life he abhors, ver. 9, 10, and
an expression of strong confidence that God will hear his prayer, ver. 11, 12.
There is a certain similarity of form between this psalm and the foregoing,
which, together with their collocation in the Psalter, makes it not improbable
that they were designed to constitute a pair or double psalm.
1. By David. Judge, me, Jehovah, for I in my integrity have walked,
and in Jehovah I have trusted; I shall not swerve (or slip). The correctness of the title is confirmed by the resemblance of the psalm itself to
118
PSALM XXVI.
[VER. 2-6.
several, the authorship of which is undisputed, more especially Ps. xv.
xvii. xviii. xxiv.—Judge me, do me justice, vindicate or clear me. See
above, on Ps. xvii. 1, 2.—In my integrity of purpose and of principle. To
this is added its inseparable adjunct, trust in God.—Walked, lived, pursued a certain course of conduct. See above, on Ps. i. 1. The last clause
is by some explained as the expression of a wish, let me not be moved. But
there is no reason for departing from the strict sense of the future, as
expressing a confident anticipation. Swerve, as in Ps. xviii. 37 (36), xxxvii. 31.
2. Try me, Jehovah, and prove me; assay my reins and my heart. The
first verb is supposed by etymologists to signify originally trial by touch,
the second by smell, and the third by fire. In usage, however, the second
is constantly applied to moral trial or temptation, while the other two are
frequently applied to the testing of metals by the touchstone or the furnace.
This is indeed the predominant usage of the third verb, which may therefore be represented by the technical metallurgic term, assay. See above,
on Ps. xvii. 3, where two of the same verbs occur.—Reins and heart are
joined, as seats of the affections. See above, on Ps. vii. 10 (9).—The
prayer of this verse is an appeal to God's omniscience for the psalmist's
integrity of purpose, which agrees much better with the context than the
explanation of hpvrc as a participle, and of the last clause as an affirmation,
purified (or purged) are my reins and my heart.
3. For thy mercy (is) before my eyes, and I have walked in thy truth.
This verse assigns a reason for his confident persuasion that he shall not
slide, to wit, because God's mercy is before his eyes, literally, in front of
them, i. e. constantly in view, as an object of memory and ground of hope.
He is also encouraged by his previous experience of God's truth or faithfulness. See above, on Ps. xxv. 5. The verb translated walked is an intensive
form of that used in ver. 1 above, and ver. 11 below. It means properly
to walk about or to and fro, and expresses more distinctly than the primitive
verb, the idea of continuous habitual action. "My constant experience
of thy mercy and thy faithfulness assure me that I shall not fall away hereafter."
4. I have not sat with men of falsehood, and with hidden (men) I will not
go. He is further encouraged to believe that he will be sustained because
he has not hitherto espoused the cause of those who hate God.—Men of
falsehood, liars or deceivers, which appears to suit the context better than
the wider sense of vain men, i. e. destitute of all moral goodness, good for
nothing, worthless. See above; on Ps. v. 7 (6), xxiv. 4. The same class
of persons are described in the last clause as masked, disguised, or hypocritical.—Sat, not merely in their company, but in their councils, taking
part in their unlawful machinations. The change of tense is anything
rather than unmeaning. "I have not sat with them in time past, and I
will not go with them in time to come." The form of expression is borrowed from Gen. xlix. 6.
6. I will wash in innocence my hands, and will compass thy altar, O
Jehovah! To the negative professions of the two preceding verses he now
adds a positive declaration of his purpose. Not content with abstaining
from all share in the counsels of the wicked, he is fully resolved to adhere
to the service of the Lord. He will cleanse himself from all that would
unfit him for that service, and then cleave to the sanctuary where God
dwells. The expression in the first clause seems to be copied from Gen.
xx. 5, and the symbol or emblem from Deut. xxi. 6. (Compare Mat.
VER. 7-11.]
PSALM XXVI.
119
xxvii. 24.) Whether compassing the altar be explained to mean going
round it in procession, or embracing it, the idea expressed is still that of
close adherence and devoted attachment.
7. To make known with a voice of thanksgiving, and to recount all thy
wondrous works. The object of the acts described in the preceding verse
was to promote's God's glory. To make known, literally to cause to hear
or to be heard. The clause admits of several constructions. 1. To publish
thanksgivings with the voice. 2. To publish with a thankful voice, without
expressing what. 3. To publish and recount all thy wondrous works with
a voice of thanksgiving. The last is on the whole entitled to the preference.
—The last word in the verse is a passive participle, meaning wonderfully
made or done. The plural feminine is used indefinitely like the neuter in
Greek and Latin, to mean things done wonderfully, which is also the idea of
the common version, wondrous works.
8. Jehovah, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place of the
dwelling of thy glory. This verse expresses more directly and literally the
idea of ver. 6 above, and shows that his compassing the altar was intended
to denote his love for the earthly residence of God, the altar being there
put for the whole sanctuary, which is here distinctly mentioned. The
habitation of thy house might be understood to mean a residence in it; but
the usage of the first noun and the parallelism chew that it rather means
the place where thy house dwells, perhaps in allusion to the migratory movements of the ark and its appendages before the time of David. So too in
the last clause, Hebrew usage would admit of the translation, thy glorious
dwelling-place, as in Ps. xx. 7 (6); but the use of dObKA in the Pentateuch,
to signify the visible presence of Jehovah (Exod. xxiv. 16, xl. 34, 35),
seems decisive in favour of explaining it the place where thy glory dwells, i. e.
where the glorious God is pleased to manifest his presence.
9. Take not away my soul with sinners, and with men of blood my life.
The primary meaning of the first verb is to gather, as a harvest or as fruit,
a figure not unfrequently applied in various languages to death, here
described as the taking away of the life or soul. This verse and the next
contain a prayer that he may die as he has lived; that since he has had
no community of interest or feeling with ungodly men in life, he may not
be united with them in his death.—Men of blood, literally bloods, i. e.
murderers, either in the strict sense or by metonymy for sinners of the worst class.
See above, on Ps. v. 7 (6). Another idiomatic plural in this sentence is the word lives
at the end, which is used as an abstract simply equivalent to life in English.
10. In whose hands is crime, and their right hand is filled with a bribe.
The first clause exhibits the peculiar construction of the relative in Hebrew
with the personal pronoun expressed, of which it is the substitute in other
languages. Who (or as to whom)—in their hands (is) crime. This last
word (hm.Azi) is a very strong one, used in the Law to denote specifically
acts of gross impurity, but signifying really any wicked act or purpose
The common version, mischief, is too weak. The last word in the verse
denotes especially a judicial bribe (Ps. xv. 5), and may be intended to
suggest that the whole description has reference to unrighteous rulers, or
to wicked men in public office.
11. And I in my integrity will walk; redeem me and be merciful to me.
The use of the conjunction and emphatic pronoun is the same as in Ps.
ii. 6 above. Our idiom would require an adversative conjunction, but I, in
120
PSALM XXVII.
[VER. 1, 2.
opposition to the sinners just described, but as for me, I will still walk as
I have done in sincerity and simplicity of purpose. The obvious contrast
of the tenses here and in ver. 1, may serve to shew how seldom they are
used promiscuously or confounded.—That the Psalmist's perfection or integrity was neither absolute nor inherent, is clear from the petition of the
last clause. He expects still to be perfect, not because he is without sin,
but because he hopes to be redeemed from its dominion through the mercy
of Jehovah.
12. My foot stands in an even place; in the assemblies will I bless Jehovah.
As a state of danger and distress might be compared to a precipitous and
rugged path, so one of ease and safety is denoted by a smooth or level path.
My foot (now) stands, or has (at last) stood, found a resting-place, implying
previous wanderings and hardships.—The assemblies primarily meant are
no doubt the stated congregations at the sanctuary. The determination to
praise God implies a strong assurance that the occasion for so doing will
be granted. See above, on Ps. v. 8 (7). The whole verse indeed is an
expression of confident belief that God will hear and answer the foregoing
prayers, and thus, as in many other psalms, we are brought back at the
conclusion to the starting-point. Compare the last clause of ver. 1.
PSALM XXVII.
A SUFFERER, surrounded by enemies intent on his destruction, and deprived of human help, implores divine assistance and expresses his assured
hope of obtaining it. The expression of confidence occurs at the beginning and the end, the description of the danger and the prayer for deliverance in the body of the psalm. If God be for him, and admit him to his
household, he is satisfied and safe, ver. 1-6. With this persuasion he
implores that God will interpose for his deliverance from present danger,
ver. 7-12. If he did not believe that God would grant his request he must
despair; but as he does believe it; he encourages himself to wait for it, ver.
13, 14. There is no apparent reference to any particular historical occasion, but an obvious intention to provide a vehicle of pious sentiment for all
God's people under the form of trial here described.
1. By David. Jehovah (is) my light and my salvation; of whom shall I
be afraid? Jehovah (is) the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be in
dread? As darkness is a common figure for distress, and light for relief
from it, the same idea is here twice expressed, first in a figurative form as
light, and then more literally as salvation. These terms are applied to
God, by a natural and common figure of speech, as the source or dispenser
of light and salvation. Compare Micah vii. 8. The interrogations imply
negation of the strongest kind. The form of expression is imitated in Rom.
viii. 31-35. —The noun OzfmA is sometimes used as an abstract, strength;
but its proper meaning, as its very form denotes, is local. The stronghold
or fortress of my life, that which makes my life as safe as walls and fortifications. The variation of the verbs in the two clauses is merely rhetorical,
without any change in the idea.
2. In the drawing near against me of evil-doers, to devour my flesh, (in
the drawing near of) my adversaries and my enenies to me, (it is) they (that)
have stumbled and fallen. Even in the most imminent dangers which have
hitherto befallen me, the divine protection has enabled me to see those who
VER. 3-6.]
PSALM XXVII.
121
sought to overwhelm me overwhelmed themselves. Evil-doers, not only
against me, but in general. It was not because they were his enemies
merely, but because they were the enemies of God, that he so easily subdued them.—To eat my flesh, a figure borrowed from the habits of wild beasts.
Compare Job xix. 22, Ps. xiv. 4, xxxv. 1.—To me is to be construed not with enemies,
but with the verb, as in Job xxxiii. 22. See below, on Ps. lv. 19. The pronoun expressed
in the last clause is emphatic, "They themselves, not I, as they expected, fell."
3. If there encamp against me an encampment, my heart shall not fear;
if there arise against me war, (even) in this (case) I (am) confident. With
the sentiment of this verse compare Ps. iii. 7 (6). The primary meaning
of the noun in the first clause is retained in the translation for the sake of
its assonance with the verb, which is lost in the common version, although
marked in the original. By encampment, however, must be understood
the men encamped, the host, the army.—In this, even in this extremity.
Compare Lev. xxvi. 27, Job i. 22. The common version, in this will I be
confident, although ambiguous, appears to mean, "I will confide in this,
i. e. in the fact that Jehovah is my light and my salvation." This construction is grammatical, and yields a good sense, but the other is more
pointed and emphatic, and the absolute use of HaFeOB in the sense of safe,
secure, is justified by Judges xviii. 27, Jer. xii. 5, Prov. xi. 15.
4. One (thing) have I asked from Jehovah, (and) that will I (still) seek,
that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah, to gaze at the beauty of Jehovah, and
to inquire in his temple. To dwell in the house of the Lord is not merely
to frequent his sanctuary as a place of worship, but to be a member of his
household, and as such in intimate communion with him. See above, on
Ps. xv. 1, xxiii. 6.—Beauty, loveliness, desirableness, all that makes God
an object of affection and desire to the believer. See below, on Ps. xc. 17.
Some take the last verb in the secondary sense of meditating; but the
proper one of inquiring is entirely appropriate.—Temple, properly palace,
the earthly residence of the great King, and therefore equally appropriate
to the temple and the tabernacle. See above, on Ps. v. 8 (7).
5. For he will hide me in his covert in the day of evil; he will secrete me
in the secrecy of his tent; on a rock he will set me high. This verse assigns
his reason for wishing to be still a member of Jehovah's household, namely,
because there he is sure of effectual protection.—The word translated covert
means a booth or shelter made of leaves and. branches, such as the Jews
used at the feast of tabernacles (Lev. xxiii. 42). It is here used as a figure
for secure protection in the day of evil, i. e. of suffering or danger.—Secrete
and secrecy are used in the translation to represent the cognate verb and
noun in Hebrew. — By his tent, as appears from the preceding verse, we are
to understand the tabernacle, not considered merely as a place of public
worship, but as Jehovah's earthly residence, his mansion. In the last
clause the idea of protection is conveyed by an entirely different figure, that
of a person placed upon a high rock beyond the reach of danger. See above,
on Ps. ix. 14 (13), xviii. 49 (48).
6. And now shall my head be high above my enemies around me, and I
will sacrifice in his tabernacle sacrifices of joyful noise; I will sing and make
music to Jehovah. And now may either be a formula of logical resumption,
as in Ps. ii. 10, xxxix. 8 (7), or be taken in its strict sense, as denoting
that he not only hopes for future safety, but is ready in the mean time,
even now, to thank him publicly for his protection as already realised. The
first clause merely amplifies the last of the preceding verse. The next adds
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PSALM XXVII.
[VER. 7-11.
the promise of a thank-offering at the tabernacle, which implies an assured
hope of deliverance and prosperity. By a joyful noise some understand the
blowing of trumpets which accompanied certain offerings (Num. x. 10,
xxix. 1); but as this is never mentioned in connection with private sacrifices, it seems more advisable to rest in the general sense of the expression.
7. Hear, O Jehovah! (with) my voice I will call, and do thou have mercy
on me and answer me. The Psalmist here descends from the tone of confident assurance to that of strong desire, prompted by a sense of urgent
need.—With my voice, not merely with my mind, but audibly, aloud.
See above, on Ps. iii. 5 (4).
8. To thee hath said my heart—Seek ye my face—thy face, Jehovah, will
I seek. The general meaning of this verse is obvious enough, although
its syntax is exceedingly obscure. The best solution is to take "seek ye
my face" as a citation of God's own words. "My heart has said to thee
— (whenever thou hast said) Seek ye my face,—thy face," &c. Or, "my
heart has said to thee—(in answer to thy words) Seek ye my face—thy
face," &c.—My heart hath said, i. e. I have said with or from the heart.
See above, on Ps. xi. 1. There may be an allusion to Deut. iv. 29, from
which the expression seek God (2 Sam. xii. 16, 2 Chron. xx. 4), and seek
his face (Ps. xxiv. 6, cv. 4) seems to be derived. The idea is that of
seeking admission to his presence for the purpose of asking a favour. See
above, on Ps. xxiv. 6.
9. Hide not thy face from me, put not away in wrath thy servant; my
help thou hast been; forsake me not, and leave me not, (O) God of my
salvation! The first petition is that God will not withhold from him the
manifestation of his love or favour. See above, on Ps. iv. 7 (6).—Put not
away, or thrust aside, as one unworthy to be noticed.—Thy servant, and as
such entitled to thy kind regard.—My help, i. e. the source and author of
my help, my helper. Thou hast been; the past tense is here essential:
what thou hast been, continue to be still.—God of my salvation, my Saviour
God, or God my Saviour; see above, on Ps xviii. 47 (46).
10. For my father and my mother have left me, and Jehovah will take me
in. Parents are here put for the nearest friends, whose loss or desertion is
frequently complained of in the Psalms as one of the most painful signs of
desolation. See Ps. xxxi. 12 (11), xxxviii. 12 (11), lxix. 9 (8), lxxxviii.
9 (8), and compare Job xix. 13. The first clause may also be translated,
when my father and my mother have left me, then the Lord will take me in.
—The last expression is applied to the compassionate reception of strangers
or wanderers into one's house. See Josh. xx. 4, Judges xix. 15, and compare Mat. xxv. 35, 43. The case described is an ideal one, and may be
thus expressed in paraphrase: "The kindness of the nearest earthly friends
may cease by death or desertion (for the verb to leave may comprehend
both); but the Lord's compassions cannot fail."
11. Guide me, Jehovah, (in) thy way, and lead me in a straight (or level)
path, because of my adversaries. The way in which he here desires to be
led, is not the way of duty but of providence, which he calls a straight or
smooth path, as distinguished from the rough or crooked ways of adversity.
See above, on Ps. xxv. 4, xxvi. 12.—Because of my enemies, that they may
have no occasion to exult or triumph. Of the many Hebrew words applied
to enemies, the one here used is supposed by some to signify malignant
watchers for the errors or calamities of others. The one used in the next verse
means oppressors or causers of distress.—With this clause compare Ps. xxvi. 12.
VER. 1.]
PSALM XXVIII.
123
12. Give me not up to the will of my enemies; for risen up against me
are witnesses of falsehood, and a breather forth of cruelty. The word translated will properly means soul, and is here used for the ruling wish or heart's
desire, as in Ps. xxxv. 25. The second clause assigns the ground or reason
of this prayer. As if he had said, I have reason to ask this, for there have
risen up, &c.—One breathing violence or cruelty, a strong but natural expression for a person, all whose thoughts and feelings are engrossed by a favourite purpose or employment, so that he cannot live or breathe without it.
Compare the description of Saul's persecuting zeal in Acts ix. 1, and the
Latin phrases, spirare minas, anhelare scelus.
13. Unless I believed (or fully expected) to look upon the goodness of
Jehovah in the land of life. This is an instance of the figure called aposiopesis, in which the conclusion of the sentence is suppressed, either from
excitement and hurried feeling, or because of some unwillingness to utter
what is necessary to complete it. Thus in this case the apodosis would
probably have been, I would despair, or I must have perished. (Compare
Ps. cxix. 92.) Of the other cases usually cited, that in Gen. xxxi. 42 especially resembles this, because the sentence opens with a similar conditional
expression.—To look upon, not merely to behold, but to gaze at with delight.
See above on Ps. xxii. 18 (17).—The land of life, as opposed to that of
darkness and the shadow of death (Job x. 21), seems to be a more correct
translation than the common one, land of the living.
14. Wait thou for Jehovah; be firm, and may he strengthen thy heart;
and wait thou for Jehovah! Instead of finishing the inauspicious sentence
which he had begun, he interrupts himself with an earnest exhortation to
await the fulfilment of God's promises, to hope in him. See above, on Ps.
xxv. 3.—The optative and causative senses of the third verb (CmexEya) are
both determined by its form, which equally forbids the versions, let thy heart
be strong, and he will strengthen it.—The repetition, wait for the Lord, and
wait for the Lord, implies that this is all he has to enjoin upon himself or
others, and is more impressive, in its native simplicity, than the correct
but paraphrastic version of the last clause in the English Bible, wait, I say,
upon the Lord.
PSALM XXVIII.
As in the preceding psalm, a righteous sufferer prays that he may not be
confounded with the wicked whom his soul abhors, so here a like prayer is
offered by the Anointed of Jehovah. He first prays in general for audience
and acceptance, without which he must quickly perish, ver. 1, 2. He then
asks to be distinguished from the wicked in the infliction of God's judgments,
ver. 3-5. He then gives thanks for the anticipated answer to his prayer,
ver. 6-8, and implores an extension of the blessing to all God's people at
all times, ver. 9. The collocation of the psalm is clearly not fortuitous,
but founded on its close resemblance to the one before it.
1. By David. Unto thee, Jehovah, will I call; my rock, be not silent from
me, lest thou hold thy peace from me, and I be made like to those going down
(into) the pit. My rock, the immoveable foundation of my hope and object
of my trust. See above, on Ps. xviii. 3, 32 (2, 31), xix. 15 (14). That
God is such affords a sufficient reason for the importunate demands which
follow. It is inconsistent with the relation he sustains to those who trust
124
PSALM XXVIII.
[VER. 2-5.
him, that he should be silent when they pray, i. e. refuse to answer. The
ideas of distance and estrangement are really implied in being silent, and
suggested by the pregnant construction silent from. The meaning of the
last clause is correctly given, with a change of idiom, in the English version,
lest, if thou be silent, &c. The passive verb does not merely mean to be
like, but to be made like, assimilated, confounded. The pit, the grave, both
in its narrower and wider sense. (Compare Isa. xiv. 15, 19.) Those going
down into the pit is a common description of the dead. See Ps. xxx. 4 (8),
lxxxviii. 5 (4), and compare Ps. xxii. 30 (29).
2. Hear the voice of my supplications, in my crying unto thee (for help);
in my lifting up my hands to thy holy oracle. In my crying, in my lifting,
i. e. at the time of my so doing, when I am in the very act. The lifting up
of the hands is a natural symbol of the raising of the heart or the desires to
God, and is therefore often mentioned in connection with the act of prayer.
Exod. ix. 29, xvii. 11, 12, 1 Kings viii. 22, 54, Lam. ii. 19, iii. 41, Ps. lxiii.
5 (4).—The Sword translated oracle is derived from the verb to speak, and
seems to mean a place of speaking or conversation, like the English parlour
from the French parler. Now we learn from Exod. xxv. 22, Num. vii. 89,
that the place whence God talked with Moses was the inner apartment of
the tabernacle; and from 1 Kings vi. 19, that the corresponding part of
the temple bore the name here used. To this, as the depository of the
ark and the earthly residence of God, the ancient saints looked as we look
now to Christ, in whom the idea of the Mosaic sanctuary has been realised.
See above, on Ps. v. 8 (7).
3. Draw me not away with wicked (men), and with workers of iniquity,
speaking peace with their neighbours, and evil (is) in their heart. This is
the prayer for which he bespeaks audience and acceptance in the foregoing
verse. Draw me not away, i. e. to punishment or out of life. Compare
Ps. xxvi. 9, where the parallel expression is gather me not. In both cases
he prays that he may not be confounded in his death with those whose life
he abhors. The last clause exhibits a particular trait in the character of
the wicked men and evil doers of the other clause. This trait is hypocritical
dissimulation, the pretence of friendship as a mask to hatred. The simple construction
with the copulative and is equivalent to our expressions, but, though, while, &c.
4. Give to them according to their act, and according to the evil of their
deeds, according to the work of their hands give thou to them; return their
treatment to them. Having prayed that he may not share the destruction of
the wicked, he now prays that they may not escape it. But as this is
merely asking God to act as a just and holy being must act, the charge of
vindictive cruelty is not merely groundless, but absurd.—The evil of their
deeds is a phrase borrowed from Moses (Deut. xxviii. 20), and often
repeated by Jeremiah (iv. 4, xxi. 12, xxiii. 2, 22, xxvi. 3, xliv. 22). The
same prophet has combined two of the phrases here employed in Jer. xxv.
14, and Lam. iii. 64. The word translated treatment is a participle
meaning that which is done by one person to another, whether good or
evil. See above, on Ps. vii. 5 (4).
5. Because they will not attend to the acts of Jehovah and to the doing of
his hands, he will pull them down and will not build them up. Having
appealed to the divine justice for a righteous recompence of these offenders,
he now shews what they have deserved and must experience, by shewing
what they have done, or rather not done. The acts of Jehovah and the
works of his hands are common expressions for his penal judgments. See
VER. 6-9.]
PSALM XXIII.
125
Ps. lxiv. 10 (9), xcii. 5 (4), Isa. v. 12, xxviii. 21, xxix. 23.—Pull down
and not build up, is an idiomatic combination of positive and negative
terms to express the same idea.—Build, therefore, does not mean rebuild,
but is simply the negative or opposite of pull down. The form of expression is
copied repeatedly by Jeremiah (xxxi. 28, xlii. 10, xlv. 4.) See also Job xii. 14.
6. Blessed (be) Jehovah, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. What he asked in ver. 2 he has now obtained, or at least the assurance of a favourable answer, in the confident anticipation of which he begins
already to bless God. The word translated supplications means, according
to its etymology, prayers for grace or mercy.
7. Jehovah, my strength and my shield! In him has my heart trusted,
and I have been helped, and my heart shall exult, and by my song I will
thank (or praise) him. The construction of the first clause as a proposition,
by supplying the substantive verb, Jehovah (is) my strength and my shield,
is unnecessary, and neither so simple nor so strong as that which makes
it a grateful and admiring exclamation.—My heart is twice used in this
sentence to express the deep and cordial nature of the exercises which he is
describing. The same heart that trusted now rejoices. As he believed
with all his heart, so now he rejoices in like manner.—By my song, literally
from or out of it, as the source and the occasion of his praise. Compare
Ps, xxii. 26 (25).
8. Jehovah (is) strength to them, and a stronghold of salvation (to) his
Anointed (is) He. The Psalmist having spoken hitherto not only for himself but for the people, here insensibly substitutes the third person plural
for the first person singular. In the last clause he reverts to himself, but
with the use of an expression which discloses his relation to the people, of
which he was not only a member but the delegated head, the Anointed of
Jehovah. See above, on Ps. ii. 2. A stronghold. See above on Ps.
xxvii. 1.—Salvations, full salvation. See above on Ps. xviii. 51 (50). The
personal pronoun at the end of the sentence is emphatic, and intended to
concentrate the attention upon one great object.
9. Oh save thy people, and bless thy heritage, and feed them, and carry (or
exalt them) even to eternity! The whole psalm closes with a prayer that the
relation now subsisting between God and his people may continue for ever.
Thy heritage, thy peculiar people, whom thou dost preserve and treat as
such from generation to generation. The idea and expression are Mosaic.
See Deut. ix. 29, and compare Ps. xxxiii. 12, lxviii. 10 (9), xciv. 5. The
image then merges into that of a shepherd and his flock, a favourite one
with David and throughout the later scriptures. See above, on Ps. xxiii. 1.
—Feed them, not only in the strict sense, but in that of doing the whole
duty of a shepherd. The next verb is by some translated carry them, in
which sense the primitive is elsewhere used in speaking of a shepherd (Isa.
xl. 11), and this very form appears to have the same sense in Isa. lxiii. 9,
while in 2 Sam. v. 12 it is applied to the exaltation of David himself as
a theocratic sovereign.
PSALM XXIX.
THE essential idea in this psalm is the same as in the twenty-eighth, to
wit, that God is the strength of his people, but clothed in a different costume, the divine power being proved or exemplified by its exertion in the
126
PSALM XXIX.
[VER. 1-3.
elements, and then applied, in the close, to the believer's consolation. The
Psalmist first invokes the heavenly host to celebrate their sovereign's
honour, ver. 1, 2. He then describes Jehovah's voice as producing the
most striking physical effects, ver. 3-9, and represents it as belonging to
the same God who presided at the deluge, and who now protects and will
continue to protect and bless his people, ver 10, 11. The superficial
notion that this psalm is merely a description of a thunderstorm, or of
Jehovah as the God of thunder, may be corrected by observing that the
last verse gives the key-note of the whole composition.
1. A psalm by David. Give to Jehovah, ye sons of the mighty, give to
Jehovah honour and strength. To give in such connections, is to recognise
something as belonging to another, to ascribe it to him. The form of
expression is derived from Deut. xxxii. 3, and is found not only elsewhere
in the the Psalms (xcvi. 7, 8), but with a slight modification in the New
Testament (Rev. iv. 11, v. 12, xix. 1, 1 Peter v. 11).—The word translated
mighty is the plural form of one of the names (lxe) which describe God as
omnipotent. See above, on Ps. v. 5 (4), vii. 12 (11), x. 11, 12, xvi. 1,
xvii. 6 (5), xviii. 3, 31, 33, 48 (2, 30, 32, 47), xix. 2 (1), xxii. 2 (1). The
plural form may here arise from assimilation, both parts of the compound
phrase being put into the plural, son of God, sons of Gods. Compare words
of deceits, Ps xxxv. 20. But a much more probable solution is that Mylixe
is here used as Myhilox< is elsewhere, by a kind of ellipsis for Mylixe lxe,
Dan. xi. 36, the God of Gods, or the Supreme God. Compare Deut. x. 17.—
The sons of God are the beings intermediate between God and man, sometimes called angels, in reference to their office. The same application of the
same phrase occurs in Ps. lxxxix. 7 (6).
2. Give to Jehovah the honour of his name; bow to Jehovah in beauty of holiness. The honour of his name is that belonging to it, due to it. His name is
his manifested nature. See above, on Ps. v. 12 (11). The verb in the
last clause strictly means, bow down or prostrate yourselves in worship.—
The beauty of holiness is by many understood to mean holy or consecrated
garments, such as were put on in the place of ordinary dress, as a token
of reverence, by the priests when they approached unto the presence of
Jehovah. See 2 Chron. xx. 21. But neither here nor in Ps. xcvi. 9,
cx. 3, is there any valid objection to the obvious but spiritual sense of
ornament produced by or consisting in holiness, such decoration as became
the peculiar people of Jehovah. Compare 1 Peter iii. 3-5.
3. The voice of Jehovah on the waters! The God of glory thundered.
The voice of Jehovah (was) on many waters. The invocation to the heavenly host in the two preceding verses is now justified by an appeal to one
particular manifestation of God's majesty, to wit, that afforded by the tempestuous strife of elements.—The first clause may be construed as an
exclamation, or the substantive verb may be supplied, either in the past or,
present tense. The preterite form of the original does not relate to any
specific point of past time, but merely shews that the phenomena described
have been heretofore witnessed, and though grand are nothing new. Our
present tense gives the sense correctly, but with a departure from the
idiomatic form of the original.—The God of glory contains an allusion to
ver. 1, 2. Compare Ps. xxiv. 7-10. —On (or above) the waters, i. e. the
clouds charged with rain. See above, on Ps. xviii. 12 (11), and compare
Jer. x. 13.
VER. 4-8.]
PSALM XXIX.
127
4. The voice of Jehovah in power! The voice of Jehovah in majesty!
The exclamations, as in ver. 3, may be converted into propositions by supplying either the past or present tense of the verb to be. 'The voice of
Jehovah is (or was) in power.' In power, in majesty, i. e. invested with
these attributes, a stronger expression than the corresponding adjectives
strong and majestic, would be, and certainly more natural and consonant to
usage than the construction which makes in a mere sign of that in which
something else consists. It is, indeed, little short of nonsense to affirm that
the voice of God consists in power, consists in majesty, whereas there is
truth as well as beauty in describing it as clothed or invested with those qualities.
5. The voice of Jehovah (is) breaking cedars, and Jehovah has broken the
cedars of Lebanon. In the powerful working of the elements the Psalmist
hears the voice of God. That this expression always denotes thunder (Exod.
ix. 28) is a perfectly gratuitous assumption.—Cedars are mentioned as the
loftiest forest trees, and those of Lebanon as the loftiest of the species.
Between the verbs of the two clauses there is a twofold variation which
appears to be significant. The first is the primitive verb which simply
means to break; the other an intensive form, implying an extraordinary
violence. See above, Ps. iii. 8 (7). This distinction can be reproduced
in English only by a change of verb (break and crush), or by some qualifying addition (break and break in pieces), But besides this variation, the
first word is an active participle (breaking), and the Second a finite tense
denoting past time (broke or has broken), which together may indicate
progression (it is breaking and now he has broken), or express the same
idea, namely, that he habitually breaks, or has often broken, the cedars of
Lebanon.
6. And made them skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like the young of
the unicorns (antelopes or wild bulls). The pronoun in the first clause may
refer to cedars, or by anticipation to Lebanon and Sirion. This last is the
Sidonian name of Hermon (Deut. iii. 9), the principal summit in the range
of Anti-libanus, here mentioned simply as a parallel to Lebanon, without
any special local reference. By a similar rhetorical specification, the natural vivacity of young animals is specially ascribed to a particular species,
well known to the writer and his readers as remarkable for wildness and
agility. See above, on Ps. xxii. 22 (21).
7. The voice of Jehovah (is) hewing flames (or with flames) of fire. The
reference to lightning in this verse is universally admitted, some even seeing
an allusion to the brief and sudden flash in the single clause of which the
sentence is composed. Interpreters are not agreed, however, with respect
to the specific image here presented. Some understand the act described
to be that of cleaving or dividing, in allusion to the forked appearance of a
flash of lightning; others that of hewing out, extracting flames; and others
that of hewing with them, i. e. using them as weapons of warfare or instruments of vengeance. This last construction is a common one in Hebrew,
and is favoured here by the analogy of Isa. li. 9, Hos. vi. 5, where the
same verb is applied to God's penal judgments.—The voice of God must
here mean his authority or order, as it could not be said without absurdity,
that the thunder either hews the lightning, or hews with it.
8. The voice of Jehovah is about to shake the wilderness; Jehovah will
shake wilderness of Kadesh. This is equivalent to saying that he can do so,
the Hebrew verb having no distinct potential form. The verb translated
shake is stronger, meaning properly to cause to tremble. Having spoken of
128
PSALM XXIX.
[VER. 9-11.
God's power as exerted on the mountains, he now says the same thing of
the desert; and as the mountains which he specified were on the northern
frontier, so the wilderness which he selects is that which bounded Palestine
upon the south, the northern portion of the great Arabian desert, with
which the Israelites had many strong associations, founded partly in their
personal experience, but still more in their national history. See Deut.
i. 19, viii. 15, xxxii. 10. It is in this point of view, and not simply as a
plain, which it is not in its whole extent, that the wilderness of Kadesh is
here added to Mount Lebanon.
9. The voice of Jehovah can make hinds bring forth, and strip forests;
and in his temple, all of it says, Glory! The use of the futures is the same
as in the foregoing verse. As if to shew that the divine control extends to
things both small and great, the Psalmist passes suddenly from lofty. mountains and vast deserts to the weakest animals, in whom the terror of his
presence hastens the throes of parturition. See Job xxxix. 1-3, and compare 1 Sam. iv. 19. He then returns to more imposing natural phenomena,
such as the stripping of the leaves and branches from whole forests by a
mighty wind, which, no less than the thunder, is to be regarded as the voice
of mighty temple or palace mentioned in the last clause is not the
temple at Jerusalem, nor any earthly structure, but heaven, or the whole
frame of nature, considered as God's royal residence. See above, on Ps.
v. 8 (7). Throughout this palace, all of it, i. e. all its parts, its contents,
or its inhabitants—with special reference, perhaps, to the angelic hosts
invoked in ver. 1, who are then described as doing what he there invites
them to do—not merely speaks of his glory, as the English version has it,
but says "glory!" as their constant and involuntary exclamation. As to
the true sense of the verb rmaxA, see above, on Ps. iv. 5 (4).
10. Jehovah at the flood sat (enthroned), and Jehovah sits (as) King to
eternity. There are only two ways in which this verse can be understood.
It must either be explained as introducing a new trait in the description of
a tempest, namely, that of a flood or inundation—or referred to the universal deluge, as the grandest instance of the natural changes which had
been described. In favour of the latter explanation may be urged the intrinsic grandeur of the image which it calls up, its better agreement with the
solemn declaration in the last clause, the peculiar fitness of a great historical
example just in this place, and the invariable usage of lUBm.aha to mean
Noah's flood. The sense of the whole verse may be thus expressed in
paraphrase. The God whose voice now produces these effects is the God
who sat enthroned upon the deluge, and this same God is still reigning over
nature and the elements, and will be able to control them for ever.
11. Jehovah strength to his people will give; Jehovah will bless his people
(with) peace. This is the application of the whole psalm, clearly shelving
that the description of external changes was not given for its own sake, or
for mere poetical effect, but as a source of consolation and a ground of
hope to true believers, who are here assured, in a pregnant summary of
all that goes before, that the God who is thus visible and audible in nature,
who presided at the flood and is to reign for ever, is pledged to exercise the
power thus displayed for the protection and well-being of his people.
VER. 1-3]
PSALM XXX.
129
PSALM XXX.
AFTER a title, giving the historical occasion of the psalm, ver. 1, the
writer praises God for a signal deliverance from destruction, ver. 2-4 (1-3),
and calls upon God's people to join in the praise of the divine compassion,
ver. 5, 6 (4, 5). He then reverts to the cause of his affliction, ver. 7, 8
(6, 7), and recounts the means which he employed for its removal, ver.
9-11 (8-10), and for the success of which he vows eternal thankfulness,
ver. 12 (13), 11 (12). The occasion and design of the psalm will be considered in the exposition of the title or inscription, which constitutes the
first verse of the Hebrew text.
1. A Psalm. A Song of Dedication (for) the House. By David.
The construction house of David, although not ungrammatical, is forced, as
that idea would, according to usage, have been otherwise expressed in Hebrew. This construction has moreover given rise to the false notion, that
the psalm has reference to the dedication of the king's own dwelling,
whereas the house, as an absoulte phrase, can only mean the house of God.
The historical occasion of the psalm is furnished by the narrative in 2 Sam.
xxiv. and 1 Chron. xxi. David's presumption in numbering the people
had been punished by a pestilence, which raged until the destroying angel
had, in answer to the king's prayer, been required to sheathe his sword.
The spot where this indication of God's mercy had been given, was immediately purchased by David, and consecrated by the erection of an altar,
upon which he offered sacrifices and received the divine approbation in the
gift of fire from heaven (1 Chron. xxi. 26). This place the king expressly calls
the house of God (1 Chron. xxii. 1), either in the wide sense of the patriarchal Bethel (Gen. xxviii. 17, 22), or as the designated site of the temple,
for which he immediately commenced his preparations (1 Chron. xxii. 2), and
in reference to which this psalm might well be called a song of dedication,
although naturally more full of the pestilence, and the sin which caused it,
than of the sanctuary yet to be erected,
2 (1). I will exalt thee, O Jehovah, because thou hast raised me up, and
hast not let my enemies rejoice respecting me. In the first clause there is an
antithesis of thought, though not of form. "I will raise thee because
thou hast raised me." The second verb is a modified form of one meaning to draw water from a well (Exod ii. 16, 19), and may therefore have
been chosen for the purpose of suggesting the idea of a person drawn up
from some depth in which he had been sunk, a figure not unfrequent elsewhere. See particularly Ps. xl. 3 (2), below.—Hast not caused or permitted
to rejoice by abandoning me to them.— yli does not properly mean over me,
but as to me. The specific idea of rejoicing over is suggested by the context.
3 (2.) Jehovah, my God, I cried to thee (for help) and thou didst heal me.
The address, my God, is never unmeaning or superfluous, but always intimates a covenant relation as the ground of confidence. Any severe
suffering is represented in Scripture under the figure of disease, and relief
from it as healing. See above, on Ps. vi. 3 (2), and compare Ps. xli. 5 (4),
cvii. 20, Jer. xiv. 19, xv. 18, xvii. 14, xxx. 17. The healing here meant is
identical with the help in ver. 4 (3) and the joy in ver. 12 (11,) and proves
nothing therefore as to literal sickness in the Psalmist's case. It is altogether natural, however, to suppose that David may himself have been
affected by the prevalent disorder.
4 (3.) Jehovah, thou hast brought up out of hell my soul, thou hast made
130
PSALM XXX.
[VER. 4-8.
me alive from (among those) going down (into the) pit. The extremity of
his danger is described in the strongest terms afforded by the language.
The essential meaning of both clauses is, that God had saved him from what
seemed to be inevitable and irrecoverable ruin.—Hell, sheol, the state of
the dead. See above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5).—Going down into the pit, i. e. dying.
See above, on Ps. xxii. 30 (29).—Made me alive from them, i. e. separated me
from them by restoring or preserving my life, so that I no longer can be
numbered with them.
5 (4.) Make music to Jehovah, ye his gracious ones, and give thanks to
the memory of his holiness. The exhortation in the first clause is to praise
God by song with instrumental accompaniment. See above, on Ps. vii.
18 (17), ix. 3, (2, 11). His gracious ones, the objects of his mercy, and
themselves endowed with the same attribute. See above, on Ps. iv. 4 (3).—
Memory, in this connection, does not mean the power or the act of remembering, but that which is remembered when we think of God, to wit, his glorious
perfections, which are summed up in his holiness, as to the comprehensive
sense of which, see above, on Ps. xxii. 4 (3). See also Hos. xii. 6 (5),
where the memory of God is particularly cdupled with his mercy, and
Exod. iii. 15, Isa. xxvi. 8, Ps. cxxxv. 13, where memory and name are used
as parallel expressions.
6 (5). For a moment in his wrath, life in his favour; in the evening
shall lodge weeping, and at the morning shouting (or singing). Some understand the contrast in the first clause to be one of duration; there is only
a moment in his wrath, but a lifetime in his favour. It is simpler, however, and more agreeable to the usage of the word translated life, to read
the clause without an antithesis; his wrath endures but a moment, and then
his favour restores life, in its wide sense, as including all that makes existence desirable. The same idea is expressed in the last clause by a beautiful figure. Sorrow is only a sojourner, a stranger lodging for the night, to
be succeeded, at the break of day, by a very different inmate. This,
though primarily referring to the joys and sorrows of the present state,
admits of a striking application to the contrast between this life and the
next. See above, on Ps. xvii. 15.
7 (6). And I said in my security, I shall not be moved for ever. The
pronoun is emphatic: it was I that said.—Security. The Hebrew word
includes the ideas of prosperity, and of that self-confidence which it produces. Compare Deut. viii. 11-18, xxxii. 15, Hos. xiii. 6, 2 Chron. xxxii.
25.—Moved, disturbed in my enjoyment, shaken from my present firm
position. See above, on Ps. x. 6, xvi. 8, and compare Ps. xiii. 5 (4), xv. 5, xxi. 8 (7).
8 (7). Jehovah, in thy favour thou didst establish to my mountain strength;
thou didst hide thy face, I was confounded. It was only through God's
mercy that his power was established.—Thou didst confirm strength (literally, make it stand) to my mountain, a common figure for royal power, and
especially for that of the theocracy, the central point of which was mount
Zion. See 2 Sam. v. 9, 12, Neh. iii. 15, Micah iv. 8, Isa. ii. 3. The idea
of personal prosperity in general, though not expressed directly, is suggested
by the special case of David's official eminence. —Thou didst hide thy face,
withdraw the tokens of thy presence and thy favour. See above, on Ps.
xiii. 2 (1). —I was confounded, agitated, terrified, perplexed. See above,
on Ps. vi. 3, 4, 11 (2, 3, 10), and compare Ps. ii. 5. The common version,
troubled, is too weak.
9 (8). Unto thee, Jehovah, will I call, and to Jehovah, I will cry for mercy.
VER. 9-12.]
PSALM XXX.
131
This was the resolution formed at the time when God concealed his face
and he was troubled. The insertion of the words then said I, at the beginning of the verse, would render the connection clear, but is unnecessary.
The translation of the futures as past tenses is a licence which could only
be justified by extreme exegetical necessity, certainly not by the trivial circumstance, that the last clause speaks of Jehovah in the third, person, which
is not more surprising in a prayer than the second person of the first clause
would be in a narrative. The sudden change of person is, of course, the
same in either case.
10 (9). What profit (is there) in my blood, in my descending to corruption (or the grave)? Will dust praise (or thank) thee? Will it tell thy truth?
This argument in favour of his being heard and rescued is the same as that
in Ps. vi. 6 (5), and reappears in Ps. lxxxviii. 11-13 (10-12), and in Hezekiah's psalm, Isa. xxxviii. 18, 19, both of which are obvious imitations of
David. For the twofold etymology and sense of tHawa, either of which is
here appropriate, see above, on Ps. xvi. 10. —Dust, the lifeless and disorganised remains of the body.—Tell thy truth, attest the truth of thy promises by reciting their fulfilment, and so bear witness to the divine veracity
and faithfulness. The questions of course imply negation. "My destruction can
be no advantage to the divine glory, but must rather involve a loss of praise."
11 (10). Hear, Jehovah, and have mercy on me; Jehovah, be a helper for
(or to) me. This petition is an indirect conclusion from the reasoning of
the preceding verse. The logical connection may be made clear by a change
of form. "Since thy glory will not be promoted by my death, I am entitled to deliverance, not for my sake but thy own." This last idea is.
suggested by his appealing to the divine mercy, as the ground on which he
asked God to become his helper.
12 (11). Thou hast turned my lament into a dance for me; thou hast
opened my sackcloth and hast girded me (with) joy. To his prayer he now
adds the account of its fulfilment. The relief of his distress is described as
an exchange of his lament or funeral song for a joyful dance, Compare
Jer. xxxi. 13, Lam. v. 15. In further allusion to the mourning customs of
the east, he represents his mourning dress, made of the coarsest hair-cloth,
as now opened, i. e. loosened, unfastened, for the purpose of removal, to be
replaced not merely by a gay or festive dress, but by joy itself, poetically
represented as a garment. See above, on Ps. xviii. 33, 40 (32, 39), and
compare Isa. lxi. 3.
13 (12). In order that glory may make music to thee and not be dumb,
Jehovah, my God, I will praise thee (or give thanks to thee) for ever. This
verse describes not only the effect but the design of the deliverance asked
for, and so furnishes a counterpart to the argument in ver. 10 (9). As the
death of the Psalmist would deprive God of praise, so his deliverance is intended to ensure it.—The use of glory in the first clause is obscure. Some
understand by it the tongue or voice, which is entirely arbitrary; others
the soul, the nobler part of man, as in Ps. xvi. 9, lvii. 9, cviii. 2 (1). But
as the form in all these cases is my glory, it seems better to take glory here
without the pronoun in the wide sense of every thing glorious, including the
worshipper's highest powers, and perhaps his regal dignity, as in Ps. vii. 6 (5)
As in God's temple every thing says "Glory!" (Ps. xxix. 9), so every
thing glorious among his works is bound to praise him.—Not be dumb, a
stronger phrase than not be silent.—With the last clause compare the words
of Hezekiah, Isa. xxxviii. 20.
132
PSALM XXXI.
[VER. 1-3.
PSALM XXXI.
THE Psalmist first prays in general for deliverance from his sufferings
and his enemies, on the ground of his confidence in God and previous experience of his mercy, ver. 2-9 (1-8). He then prays more particularly
for deliverance from his present danger, with a description of the same, ver.
10-14 (9-13). In the remainder of the psalm, the tone of supplication and
complaint is gradually exchanged for that of thankful assurance, ver. 15-23
(14-22), and the whole is wound up with an application of the lesson furnished by the Psalmist's experience to the case of all God's people, ver.
24, 25 (23, 24).
1. To the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. Here we meet again
with the inscription, to the chief musician, which has not appeared before
since the title of Ps. xxii. As in all other cases, it explicitly describes the
psalm as intended for musical performance in the public worship of the
ancient church. As this, however, was the case with all the psalms, the
fact that it is mentioned only in some may be explained by supposing, that
in them there was something which might otherwise have caused them to
be looked upon as mere expressions of personal feeling.—The correctness
of the other clause—a Psalm of David—is fully attested by internal evidence.
The idea that Jeremiah wrote it rests entirely on the imitation of the first
clause of ver. 14 (13) in Jer. xx. 10, which is in perfect keeping with the
practice of that prophet.
2 (1). In thee, Jehovah, have I trusted. Let me not be shamed for ever.
In thy righteusness deliver me (or help me to escape). The first clause contains the ground of the petitions following, which ground is the same that
is often urged elsewhere, namely, that a just God cannot destroy those who
trust him. See above, Ps. vii. 2 (1), xi. 1.—The prayer in the next clause
may be either that his present shame may not endure for ever, or that he
may never be put to shame, which last idea could not well be otherwise
expressed in Hebrew. Shamed, i. e. utterly confounded, disappointed,
and frustrated in his hopes. See above, on Ps. vi. 11 (10), xxii. 6 (5),
xxv. 2, 20. He appeals to God's righteousness or justice, in the strict
sense, upon which trust or faith creates a claim, even on the part of the
unworthy, not by virtue of any intrinsic merit, but of God's gracious constitution. See, above, on Ps. xvii. 1, 2, xviii. 21-25 (20-24), xxv. 21.
xxvi. 1. This verse and the two following reappear, without material
variation, in Ps. lxxi. 1-3.
3 (2). Incline unto me thine ear; (in) haste deliver me; be to me for a rock
of strength for a house of defences to save me. The prayer for speedy deliverance implies extreme necessity and danger. For the meaning of the figures,
rock of strength and house of defences or fortress, see above, on Ps. xviii.
3 (2), and as to the plural form, on Ps. xviii. 51 (50), xx. 7 (6).—The
petition of the first clause seems to imply that God had hitherto appeared
to turn a deaf ear to his prayers. It may perhaps have been intended to
suggest the additional idea, that his cry was feeble, so that it had hitherto
escaped the ear of him to whom it was addressed, and who is now implored
to bow down or incline his ear, that the distant sound may reach him.
4 (3). For my rock and my fortress (art) thou, and for thy name's sake
thou wilt lead me and conduct me (or provide for me). What he asks in the
preceding verse he here asserts, to wit, that God is his protector, and must
therefore, of necessity, protect him, not only for the sufferer's sake, but for
VER. 4-8.]
PSALM XXXI.
133
the honour of his own name or manifested nature. See above, Ps. xxiii. 3,
for the meaning of this phrase, and on the second verse of the same psalm,
for that of the last verb.—The futures in the second clause suggest the
idea of necessity, and might perhaps be correctly rendered by the use of
our auxiliary must.
5 (4). Thou wilt bring me out from the net which they have hid for me;
for thou (art) my strength (or my stronghold). "By thee I confidently
hope to be delivered from the craft and malice of my enemies, for my defence and safety are in thee alone." With. the first clause compare Ps.
xxv. 15, and with the last Ps. xxvii. 1. The change of figure in the last
clause shews the whole verse to be highly metaphorical.
6 (5). Into thy hand I will commit my spirit; thou hast redeemed me,
(O) Jehovah, God of truth. The verb in the first clause means to entrust
or deposit anything of value. By my spirit we may either understand my
my life or myself, but not my soul, as distinguished from my body.—The
preterite thou hast redeemed, expresses, in the strongest manner, his assured.
hope, and the certainty of the event—God of truth, veracity or faithfulness. See above, on Ps. xxv. 5, and compare Jer. x. 10. The words of
the first clause of this verse were quoted or imitated by our Saviour on the
cross, Luke xxiii. 46, which only proves that he considered himself one of
those to whom the psalm might be applied, but without excluding others;
and accordingly John Huss, while on his way to the stake, repeatedly
quoted this whole verse, as the expression of his own emotions.
7 (6). I have hated those regarding vanities of falsehood, and I (for my
part) in Jehovah have confided. The present is included in the preterite
of the first clause. "I have hated them, and hate them still." "I hate
them, and have done so heretofore." See above, Ps. xvi. 4, xxvi. 5.—Regarding, religiously observing, waiting upon, watching with respect and
trust. Compare Hos. iv. 10, Zech. xi. 11, Jonah ii. 9 (8). This last place
contains also the word vanities here used, and even in the Law applied to idols,
as no gods, and as "nothing in the world" (1 Cor. viii. 4). See Deut.
xxxii. 21, and compare Jer. 5, x. 15, xiv. 22, xvi. 19, xviii. 15. The
words here combined are highly contemptuous, denoting vanities of emptiness, or nothings of nonentity, presented in contrast to Jehovah, God of truth, in whom
the Psalmist has confided. And I, as opposed to them. See above, on Ps. ii. 6.
8 (7). I will triumph and joy in thy mercy, thou who hast seen my affliction, hast known the pangs of my soul. In the strength of his faith he sees
deliverance already present.—Hast known in the pangs of my soul, i. e. in
the time of my distress hast been aware of it, which seems to be the meaning of this verb and preposition elsewhere (Gen. xix. 33, 35, Job xxxv. 15).
Luther and others give a different construction, hast known my soul in distress, but the other is favoured by the occurrence of the phrase distress (or
agonies) of soul in Gen. xlii. 21, and Ps. xxv. 17. The sight and knowledge here applied
to God imply a corresponding action. "Thou hast seen and known my state, and dealt
with me accordingly." With the first clause compare Ps. ix. 3 (2).
9 (8). And hast not shut me up in the hand of a foe, (but) hast made to stand
in the wide place my feet. To shut up in the hand of any one is to abandon
to his power. The expression is a figurative one, but occurs in prose, and
even in the history of David. See 1 Sam. xxiii. 11, xxvi. 8. The figure
of the last clause is a favourite with David. See above, on Ps. iv. 2 (1),
xviii. 20, 37 (19, 36).
134
PSALM XXXI.
[VER. 9-13.
10 (9). Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah, for distress is to me; sunken
through grief is my eye, my soul, and my belly. Having thus professed his
confidence of ultimate deliverance, he reverts to his actual condition, and
prays for the divine interposition, on the ground of what he has already
suffered. On the sinking or falling of the eye, as a sign of extreme grief
and weakness, see ahove, on Ps. vi. 8 (7). Having mentioned this as a
specific symptom, he then uses the generic terms, soul and belly, i. e. body.—
For the true sense of the word translated grief, see above, on Ps. x. 14.
11 (10). For wasted with grief (or indignation) is my life, and my years
with sighing; my strength totters because of my iniquity, and my bones are
decayed. Wasted, consumed before the time.—Life and years, grief and
sighing, are correlative expressions. Life is made up of years; grief is
expressed by sighs and groans.—To totter or stumble is a verb applied elsewhere to the parts of the body—as the knees in Ps. cix. 24—here metaphorically to the strength itself.—Because of my iniquity or guilt is not
inconsistent with the appeal to God's righteousness in ver. 2 (1), but only
proves that the Psalmist lays no claim to a sinless perfection. See above,
on Ps. xviii. 24 (23).—The bones are mentioned as the seat of strength, the solid
frame-work of the body.—Decayed, grown old, worn out. See below, on Ps. xxxii. 3.
12 (11). By means of (or because of) all my adversaries I was a reproach,
and to my neighbours very (much), and a fear to my acquaintances; seeing me
in the street they fled from me (or those seeing me in the street fled from me).
The first word properly means from or out of. It was from his enemies,
both as the cause and the occasion, that his disgrace proceeded. A reproach,
despised by others, and considered a disgrace to them. See above, on Pr.
xxii. 7 (6). In the second clause there is an obvious progression. He
was so esteemed, not only by his fellow-men indefinitely, but by his neighbours, and that greatly (dxom;), which seems equivalent to saying, "and to
none more than my neighbours," or, "above all to my neighbours." In the
last clause the climax is completed. Not only were his neighbours ashamed
of him; his acquaintances were afraid of him. See below, Ps. xxxviii.
12 (11), lxix. 9 (8), lxxxviii. 19 (18), and compare Job xix. 13, 14.
13 (12). I was forgotten as a dead man out of mind; I was like a broken
vessel (or a vessel perishing). The next stage of his calamity was that of
contemptuous oblivion, which usually follows the acute one of disgust and
shame described in the foregoing verse.—From the heart, i. e. the memory;
the expression seems to correspond exactly to the second member of the
English proverb, Out of sight, out of mind.—The comparison with an
earthen vessel, at best of little value, easily broken, and when broken,
worthless, only fit to be contemptuously thrown aside, is a favourite with
Jeremiah, who appears to have derived it, with some other favourite ideas
and expressions, from the psalm before us. See Jer. xix. 11, xxii. 28,
xxv. 34, xlviii. 38, and compare Hos. viii. 8.
14 (13). For I heard the slander oy many—terror (was) all around—in
their consulting together against me, to take my soul (or my life) they plotted.
The for connects what follows not so much with what immediately precedes
as with the general description of his urgent need in ver. 10 (9). Have
mercy upon me, for distress is to me, of which he is about to give another
proof or instance. The first clause is closely copied in Jer. xx. 10, and
the phrase magor missabib (fear round about) is a favourite with that prophet. See Jer. vi. 25, xx. 3, xlvi, 5, xlix. 29, and compare Lam. ii. 22.
—The term used for consulting is akin to that in Ps. ii. 2.—The connec-
VER. 14-19.]
PSALM XXXI.
135
tion between the slander of the first clause and the plotting of the second
seems to be, that the former was regarded as a necessary means to the
successful execution of the latter.
15 (14). And I on, thee did trust, Jehovah; I said, my God (art) thou!
"Amidst these distresses, and in spite of them, I still confided in Jehovah,
and expressed my confidence by solemnly avouching him to be my God, and
therefore bound by covenant to save me, as I am no less bound by covenant to trust him." It is worthy of remark how constantly the ancient
saints make trust in God essential to all spiritual safety.—With the last
clause of this verse compare Ps. xvi. 1.
16 (15). In thy hand (are) my times; set me free from the hand of my
foes and from my persecutors. By times we are to understand the current of events or the vicissitudes of life, as when we speak familiarly of
good times, hard times, and the like. There may be also an allusion to
the turning-points or critical junctures of his history. The first clause
presents the ground or reason of the second. "Since the events of my
life are at thy disposal, set me free," &c. Freeing from the hand is the
opposite of shutting up in it. See above, on ver. 9 (8).—Foes and persecutors, not as distinct classes, but as different descriptions of the same.
17 (16). Let thy face shine on thy servant; save me in thy mercy. The
first clause contains an allusion to the sacerdotal benediction recorded in
Num. vi. 25. See above, on Ps. iv. 7 (6), where we have a similar allusion to that passage. "Grant me a sensible assurance of thy favour."
This he asks because he is his servant, a relation implying the necessity of
God's interposition in his favour. While God is God, he cannot leave his
faithful servants to perish. Even here, however, his appeal is to God's
mercy, as, the only source or means of safety.
18 (17). Jehovah, let me not be shamed, for I have called (upon thee).
Let the wicked be shamed, be silenced, in hell. He distinguishes himself, as
one who calls upon God, from the wicked who do not, and appeals to the
righteousness of God as requiring that defeat, and disappointment, and
frustration of the hopes, should fall, not upon the class to which he belongs
and of which he is the representative, but upon that represented by his
enemies, of whom it has been well said, that they are not reckoned sinners
because they are his enemies, but enemies because they are sinners, or in
other words, enemies to him because they are the enemies of God.—
Silenced in reference to their present loud and angry contests with the
righteous.—In hell, or in the grave, i. e. in death.
19 (18). Struck dumb be the lips of lying, the (lips) speaking against a
righteous (man), insolently in pride and scorn. This wish has special reference to the slanders mentioned in ver. 14 (13).—Insolently, literally insolent,
that which is insolent, or as an abstract, insolence, audacity.
20 (19). How great is thy goodness which thou hast hidden for those
fearing thee, (and) wrought for (those) trusting in thee before the Son of man
(or mankind)! Some suppose an antithesis between what God does secretly
for those who trust him openly, or publicly profess their faith. Compare
Mat. vi. 4. But usage and the masoretic accents are in favour of a different construction, which connects before the sons of man with wrought, and
supposes the antithesis to be between the two successive stages of God's
dispensations towards believers, first what he does in secret, and then what
he does in public. "How great is thy goodness which thou hast first treasured up, and
then wrought openly before the sons of men for those who trust thee."
136
PSALM XXXI.
[VER. 20-23.
21 (20) Thou wilt secrete them in the secret of thy face (or presence) from
the leagues of man; thou wilt hide them in a covert from the strife of tongues.
A particular manifestation of this goodness is now specified, to wit, the
protection of its objects from the craft and malice of their fellow-men. The
figures are the same as in the first clause of Ps. xxvii. 5, except that the
presence of God is substituted for his dwelling, which indeed derives its
power of protection solely from that presence. The leagues or plots of man
are those mentioned in ver. 14 (13), and the strife of tongues the slander
there referred to; not the strife of tongues in mutual dispute among his
enemies, but the united strife of all their tongues against himself.
22 (21). Blessed (be) Jehovah, for he hath made his mercy wonderful to
me in a city of defence (or fortified city). What he had just asserted to be
generally true of all believers, he now declares to have been verified in his
own experience.—Has made his mercy wonderful, has exercised surprising
mercy, or in modern phrase, has been wonderfully gracious.—In a fenced
city is by some understood to mean as such a city, a comparison which
really occurs in other places. For another supposed instance of the same
construction, see above, on Ps. xxix. 4. In this case, however, as in that,
the strict sense of the particle may be retained, not only without injury
but with advantage to the sense, which will then be, that Jehovah had
exercised extraordinary mercy towards the psalmist, by bringing him into a
position where he was as safe from the evils which he felt or feared, as he
would have been from mere corporeal perils in a walled town or a fortress.
23 (22). And (yet it was) I (that) said in my terror, I am cut off from
before thine eyes. Nevertheless, thou didst hear the voice of my prayers (for
mercy) in my crying unto thee (for help). The full force of the emphatic
pronoun can be represented only by a paraphrase. The meaning is that
this very person who experiences this wonderful protection was the same
who, but a little while before, had given himself up for lost.—In my haste.
The Hebrew word denotes the hurried flight of one escaping panic-struck
from his pursuers. See the literal application of the verb, in historical
prose, to the case of David himself, 1 Sam. xxiii. 26, and compare Ps.
xlviii. 6 (5), civ. 7. Our idiom absolutely requires an adversative particle
at the beginning of the second clause, although the Hebrew word is properly a particle of affirmation, meaning certainly or surely. Notwithstanding his despondency and unbelief, Jehovah heard and answered his prayers for mercy
and his cries for help, both which ideas are suggested in the original.
24 (23) Love Jehovah, ye his gracious ones (or favoured ones); faithkeeping (is) Jehovah, and repaying in plenty (the man) working pride (or
acting proudly). In this and the remaining verse, he makes a further
application of the truth, which he had just attested from his own experience, to the case of all God's saints or gracious ones, at once the subjects
and the objects of benignant dispositions, those who are merciful because
they obtain mercy (Mat. v. 7). See above, on Ps. iv. 4 (3).—The next
words admit of two interpretations: keeping (preserving) the faithful, and
keeping faith, literally fidelities, the plural being often used in Hebrew as
an abstract. The predominant usage of Mynvmx, is in favour of this last
construction. See above, on Ps. xii. 2 (1). Keeping faith of course
means with those who are faithful to himself, so that we still have the
antithesis between them and the man doing, exercising pride, a form of
speech much stronger than its English equivalent, acting proudly.—Abundantly, or literally, in plenty.
VER. 1, 2.]
PSALM XXXII.
137
25 (24). Be strong, and let him confirm your heart, all ye that wait for
Jehovah (or hope in him). The idea and the form of expression are the
same as in Ps. xxvii. 14, except that what the Psalmist there says to himself, or to his own soul, he here says to all that hope in God, or wait for
the fulfilment of his promises. See the same description of God's people
in Ps. xxxiii. 18, below.—Be strong in purpose and desire, and he will make
you strong in fact. This promise is conveyed under the form of a wish,
may he strengthen (or confirm) your heart. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 14.
PSALM XXXII.
THE Psalm opens with a general assertion of the blessedness arising from
the pardon of sin, ver. 1, 2, which is then exemplified by a statement of
the Psalmist's own experience, ver. 3-6, and extended to the case of others
also, ver, 7-9, the whole ending, as it began, with an assertion of the
misery of sinners and the happiness of the righteous, ver. 10, 11.
1. By David. Maschil. Happy (he whose) transgression (is) taken
away, covered (his) sin. The ascription of the psalm to David is not only
free from all improbability, and recognised in the New Testament (Rom.
iv. 6), but confirmed by its resemblance to his other compositions, and by
a seeming reference to a signal incident in David's life, described as unique
in the history itself (1 Kings xv. 5), and the same which gave occasion to
the fifty-first psalm. The feelings here described bear a striking analogy
to those recorded in the narrative, 2 Sam. xii., as will be more distinctly
pointed out below. But although there is reason to believe that this psalm
was connected, in its origin, with a peculiar and most painful passage of
the writer's own experience, it was not intended to express his personal
emotions merely, nor even those of other saints in precisely the same situation, but to draw from this one case a general lesson, as to the misery of
impenitent dissimulation, and the happiness arising from confession and
forgiveness. And lest this wide scope of the psalm should be lost sight of
in the contemplation of the circumstances which produced it, it is described
in the inscription as a maschil, an instructive or didactic psalm, a designation which, in the case of many other psalms, would be superfluous, and
which is actually found, for the most part, only where the didactic purpose
of the composition is for some cause less obvious than usual. (Compare
the introduction to Ps. xxxiv. below.) That the maschil was prefixed by
David himself, is rendered still more probable by the allusion to it in the
body of the psalm. See below, on ver. 8.—Taken away, put out of sight,
the same idea that is expressed in the other clause by covered. This
verse is explained by Paul, in Rom. iv. 6, as relating to justification
"without works" and "by faith."
2. Happy man — Jehovah will not impute to him iniquity — and
there is not in his spirit guile. The peculiar form of the construction may
be thus resolved into our idiom: happy the man to whom the Lord, &c.
The phrase at the beginning, Oh the happinesses of the man, is substantially
the same as in Ps. i. 1.—Impute, reckon or charge to his account, and
deal with him accordingly. The whole phrase occurs in 2 Sam. xix. 20
(19). The threefold designation, sin, transgression, and iniquity, seems to
be borrowed from Exod. xxxiv. 7, where the doctrine of forgiveness is first
fully and explicitly propounded.—Guile, deceit, including self-deception as
to one's own character and dissimulation in the sight of God, the attempt
138
PSALM XXXII.
[VER. 3-6.
to palliate or conceal sin instead of freely confessing it, which is an indispensable condition of forgiveness, according to the doctrine of both testaments (Prov. xxviii. 13,1 John i. 8-10).
3. For I kept silence (and) my bones decayed, in my roaring all the day.
The sentence admits of several different constructions—'because I kept
silence my bones decayed when I kept silence,' &c. But the simplest
is that which gives the yKi its usual and proper meaning, and supposes it to
introduce the Psalmist's, proof of the preceding proposition drawn from his
own experience. "I know this happiness, for I was once in a different condition and have been delivered."—Kept silence, refrained from acknowledging
my sins to God. The bones are here put for the framework of the body,
in which the strength resides, and the decay of which implies extreme debilitation. The verb translated decayed is especially applied to the weakenmg effect of time; they grew old, or wore out.— In denotes both time and
cause—'while I roared,' and 'because I roared.' The figure is borrowed
from the habits of inferior animals, and means loud or passionate complaint.
See above, on Ps. xxii. 2 (1).
4. For day and night thy hand weighs upon me; changed is my moisture in (or into) droughts of summer. Selah. The for at the beginning
shows the connection of this verse with that before it, as assigning the cause
of the decay there mentioned. "My bones waxed old because thy hand,"
&c.—The future in the first clause cannot, without arbitrary violence, be
taken as a preterite. It seems to have been used for the purpose of describing his condition as it seemed to him at the time, when the hand of God
not only weighed upon him but seemed likely still to do so. See above, on
Ps. xviii. 17 (16). The word translated moisture, i. e. vital juice, analogous to the sap of plants, is so explained from an Arabic analogy; but some
think this sense inappropriate in the only other case where the Hebrew
word occurs (Num. xi. 8), and infer from Ps. cii. 5 (4), that it is an unusual expression for the heart. His inward agonies are represented as intense
and parching heats.
5. My sin I will make known to thee, and my guilt I did not conceal. I
said, I will make confession of my transgressions to Jehovah. And thou
didst take away the guilt of my sin. Selah. Most interpreters explain the
future verb of the first clause as a preterite, because all the other verbs are
preterites; but this only renders the future form of the first verb more
remarkable, and makes it harder to explain why a past tense was not used
in this, as in all the other cases, if the writer intended to express past time.
The only consistent method of solution is to understand the first clause as
a reminiscence of the Psalmist's resolution in the time of his distress,
repeated in the second clause, and, in both cases, followed by a recital of
the execution of his purpose. (I said) my sin I will make known to thee,
and my guilt I (accordingly) did not conceal. I said, I will make confession to Jehovah,
and thou didst take away the guilt of my sin. See above, on Ps. xxx. 9 (8).
6. For this shall every gracious one make supplication to thee at the (right)
time (for) finding (thee); surely at the overflow of many waters, unto him
they shall not reach. The first words are equally ambiguous in Hebrew and
in English. At first sight, both may seem to mean, for this grace, this
forgiveness, every godly man shall pray to thee. But although this construction yields a good sense, it is less consistent with the usage of the
Hebrew verb and preposition than another which explains the phrase to
mean for this cause, or on this account, to wit, because I have experienced
VER. 7-9.]
PSALM XXXII.
139
the blessedness of penitent confession and the pardon which invariably follows it. For the true sense of rysHA, see above, on Ps. xxxi. 24 (23).
Shall pray is not a mere prediction or anticipation, but a jussive future,
such as is constantly employed in laws. The sense might therefore be
conveyed by rendering it, let every pious person pray.—The time of finding
is the time when God is to be found. See Isa. lv. 6, and compare Deut.
iv. 29, Jer. xxix. 12-14. In this case there may be a particular allusion
to the interval between the sin and punishment, during which the penitent
confessions and importunate petitions of the sinner,—i. e. the offending
saint, to whom alone the Psalmist here refers—may avail to avert the judgments which must otherwise inevitably follow. This effect is described in
the last clause by the figure of a flood, which is not suffered to extend to
him. The word translated surely means in strictness only; i. e. the effect
of such a prayer will be only this, or, as we say, neither more nor less.
7. Thou (art) a hiding-place for me; from distress thou wilt preserve me;
with songs (or shouts) of deliverance thou wilt surround me. Selah. This
is not, as some suppose, the prayer itself, which the believer is exhorted, in
ver. 6, to offer, but a confirmation of the truth of the assurance that the
prayer will prove effectual, derived from the psalmist's own experience, or
rather from the feelings which it has produced. As if he had said, "Every
gracious soul may try this method without fear of disappointment, for I
have tried it, and the effect is that, at this very moment, God is my refuge
and protector, and I feel a strong assurance that he has the joy of his salvation in reserve for me." The solemnity and truth of this profession are
then indicated by a meditative pause, denoted in the usual manner.
8. I will instruct thee, and will guide thee, in the way which thou shalt go;
I will counsel thee, my eye (shall be) upon thee. Some regard these as the
words of God to David; but besides the gratuitous assumption of two different speakers in the two successive verses, without anything to indicate
a change, the obvious allusion in the first word (j~l;yKiW;xa) to the laconic
title of the psalm (lyKiW;ma)—as if the instruction there promised was about
to be imparted—makes it altogether probable that David is here speaking
in his own person and fulfilling the vow recorded in another place, that
when forgiven and restored to communion with God, he would teach transgressors his ways. See Ps. li. 15 (13). He may therefore be considered
as addressing another like himself—to wit, a godly person (dysiHA) overtaken
in transgression or exposed to strong temptation—and offering to point out
to him the path of safety. The construction of the latter clause which some
prefer—I will counsel for thee (with) my eye—is much less natural and.
simple than the one above given, where the phrase, my eye is (or shall be)
upon thee, adds to the idea of advice that of friendly watchfulness and supervision.
9. Be ye not as a horse (or) as a mule (in which) there is no understanding—in bridle and bit (consists) its ornament, to muzzle it, (because of its)
not approachiny to thee. The counsel or advice, which was promised in
the previous verse, is here imparted. The plural form does not imply a
change in the object of instruction, but merely shews that the individual
addressed in ver. 8 was the representative of a whole class, namely, that
described by the collective phrase, every gracious (person), in ver. 6.—The
mule is, among various nations, a proverbial type of stubborn persistency
in evil, and we find analogous allusions to the horse in Jer. v. 8, viii. 6.
140
PSALM XXXII.
[VER. 10, 11.
The reason for using a comparison with brutes is intimated in the second
clause, to wit, that the debased irrationality of sin might be distinctly
brought into view. The analogy is carried out with no small subtilty by
representing that what seems to be the trappings or mere decoration of these
brutes is really intended to coerce them, just as that in which men pride
themselves may be, and if necessary will be used by God for their restraint
and subjugation. The common version of the last clause—lest they come
near unto thee—would be suitable enough in speaking of a wild beast, but
in reference to a mule or horse the words can only mean, because they will
not follow or obey thee of their own accord, they must be constantly coerced,
in the way both of compulsion and restraint.
10. Many pains (are) to the wicked; and (as to) the (man) trusting in
Jehovah, mercy shall encompass him, or, he will encompass him (with) mercy.
In this and the remaining verse the psalmist loses sight, not only of the
horse and mule, to which he had compared the stubborn sinner, but of the
particular case which had occasioned the comparison, and closes with the
statement of a general truth, founded in necessity and verified by all experience, that sin produces misery and trust in God salvation. It is implied
though not expressed in the first clause, that the sufferings of the wicked,
while he still continues such, are hopeless and incurable, while those to
which the righteous is subjected, are salutary in effect and temporary in
duration. See below, Ps. xxxiv. 20 (19). Here again, as in Ps. xxxi. 15
(14) above, we may observe that the antithesis is not between the wicked
and the absolutely righteous, but between the wicked and the man trusting
in Jehovah, and that the effect ascribed to this trust is not the recognition
of the man's inherent righteousness, but his experience of God's mercy,
which implies that he is guilty and unworthy in himself, and can only be
delivered from the necessary consequences of his sin, by simply trusting in
the mercy of the very Being whom he has offended.—Of the two constructions given in the version of the closing words, the last is recommended by
the analogy of ver. 7, where the same verb governs two accusatives.
11. Rejoice in Jehovah, and exult, ye righteous, and shout (or sing), all ye
upright in heart! This is the practical use to be made of the preceding
doctrine; for, if that be true, it follows that the righteous have abundant
cause for exultation, not in themselves but in Jehovah, i. e. in their knowledge
and possession and enjoyment of him.—The righteous, as opposed to the
wicked; not the absolutely perfect, but those trusting in the mercy of
Jehovah for deliverance both from punishment and sin. The verb of the
second clause is properly a causative, and means to make others shout or
sing for joy. See Deut. xxxii. 43, Ps. lxv. 9 (8), Job xxix. 13. In one
place, however, Ps. lxxxi. 2 (1), it appears to be intransitive, and such may
be the case here, where the other verbs mean simply to rejoice.
PSALM XXXIII.
A SONG of praise, intended to excite and to express the confidence of
Israel in Jehovah, and closely connected with the didactic psalm before it,
the closing sentiment of which is here carried out. This intimate relation
of the two psalms may account for the absence of a title in the one before
us, as in the case of the ninth and tenth. See above, p. 46.
After a general invitation to praise God, ver. 1-3, the reasons are assigned,
to wit, his truth, faithfulness, and mercy, ver. 4-6, his creative power, ver-
VER. 1-5.]
PSALM XXXIII.
141
7-9, and his control of human agents, not only individuals but whole
nations, making them subservient to his own designs, ver. 10, 11, from all
which is inferred the happy lot of his peculiar people, ver. 12. The
Psalmist then continues his praise of God, as omniscient, ver. 13, 14, and
contrasts the insufficiency of all created help, ver. 15, 16, with the security of
those whom he protects, ver. 17, 18, and the whole concludes with an expression of strong confidence in him, on the part of all his people, ver. 19-21.
1. Exult, ye righteous, in Jehovah! To the upright suitable (is) praise.
The Hebrew verb, according to the etymologists, originally means to dance
for joy, and is therefore a very strong expression for the liveliest exultation.
In Jehovah, i. e. in the knowledge and possession of him, with particular
reference to the covenant relation between him and his peculiar people, who
are here called the righteous and the upright, by way of eminence, as in
Num. xxiii. 10, not because they were all actually so, but because they ought
to have been so, as this was the idea or, so to speak, the theory of a chosen
people, and those natural descendants of Israel who were not of this character were not entitled to the privileges of the church, which, on the contrary, to the true Israel, were legitimate occasion of rejoicing, and made
praise peculiarly comely or suitable to them.
2. Give thanks to Jehovah with a harp; with a lyre of ten (strings) make
onusic to him. The first verb means to acknowledge, either sins or favours;
in the first case, it answers to confess, Ps. xxxii. 5, in the other to thank,
Ps. vii. 18 (17). See also Ps. xxviii. 7, xxx. 10 (9). The common version, praise, is too indefinite, though this idea is undoubtedly included. The
mention of the instruments does not exclude vocal praise, but merely gives
it an accompaniment and support, as if the voice were too weak by itself to
utter the divine praise. The precise form of the instruments here named
is now unknown and wholly unimportant. The ten strings of the second
are mentioned, either to identify it by a similar circumstance, or, as some
suppose, because the number had a mystical significance. The same combination reappears below in Ps. cxliv. 9, while in Ps. xcii. 4 (3) the two
words are separately used, as if denoting different instruments.
3. Sing unto him a new song; play well with joyful noise! A new
song implies the continual recurrence of fresh reasons and occasions for the
praise of God, and also the spontaneous ebullition of devout and thankful
feelings in the hearts of those by whom the praise is offered. This is the
first instance of the expression, but it frequently reappears in later psalms—
Ps. xl. 4 (3), xcvi. 1, xcviii. 1—and once or twice in the New Testament,
Rev. v. 9, xiv. 3.—Play well, literally do well to play or in playing. This
peculiar idiom occurs in the history of David, 1 Sam. xvi. 17.—Joyful noise, see above,
on Ps. xxiii. 6, in which place, as in this, there is no certain or necessary reference to
sacrifice, but only to an audible and lively expression of religious feeling.
4. For right is the word of Jehovah, and all his work is (done) in faithfulness. The word here meant is the word of promise, and the work is its
performance or fulfilment. The word is right or upright, i. e. uttered in
sincerity and with a full determination to redeem it. In faithfulness, executed faithfully. Compare Num. xxiii. 19, Ps. cv. 42.
5. Loving righteousness and justice—(with) the mercy of Jehovah is the
earth filled. He is loving, i. e. he habitually loves. The last clause represents God's mercy as a matter of notorious and universal observation, and
the whole verse exhibits his justice and his mercy as in harmony with one
another, and equally consolatory to his people.
142
PSALM XXXIII.
[VER. 6-11.
6. By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and by the breath of his
mouth all their host. Having set forth the righteousness, fidelity, and mercy
of Jehovah, as displayed on earth, the Psalmist now demonstrates his ability
to deliver and protect his people, by exhibiting his almighty power in the
creation and sustentation of the universe. There is obvious allusion to the
history of the creation in Genesis. This is especially apparent in the closing words, all their host, which are borrowed from Gen. ii. 1. Breath is a poetical
equivalent to word, and conveys still more strongly the idea of the ease with which a
God could make a world. At the same time, it is not a mere fortuitous coincidence,
that these two words are used in Scripture to designate the second and third persons of
the Godhead. Compare Gen. i. 2, Job xxvii. 3, xxxiii. 4, Ps. civ. 29, 30, Isa. xi. 4.
7. Gathering as a heap the waters of the sea, putting in storehouses the
depths. The participle represents it is an act still continued, and affording
a perpetual evidence of God's almighty power, which is just as necessary
now as on the first day of creation, to prevent the earth from being totally
submerged. —As a heap. Dealing with fluids as if they were solids, with
an obvious allusion to Exod. xv. 8. See also Josh. iii. 13-16, Ps. lxxviii. 13.
—Putting, literally giving, storing, depositing.—Depths, masses of water.
The main point of the description is God's handling these vast liquid masses,
as men handle solid substances of moderate dimensions, heaping the waves
up and storing them away, as men might do with stones or wheat.
8. Let them be afraid of Jehovah—all the earth; let them stand in awe
of him—all the dwellers in the world. The position of the verbs at the
beginning of the clauses adds greatly to the strength of the expression. The
parallelism is exact, the terms being nearly synonymous. That the earth
of the first clause means its rational inhabitants, is implied in the plural
verb, and expressed in the parallel clause. For the precise sense of the
word translated world, see above, on Ps. xxiv. 1. The remoter inference
suggested is, that this omnipotent creator and preserver of the universe is
able to protect his people, and entitled to their confidence.
9. For (it was) He (that) said (Be), and it was; (it was) He (that) commanded, and it stood. The whole form of the sentence here is modelled
upon that of the cosmogony in Genesis, where these two verbs repeatedly
alternate. The common version, he spoke and it was done, is liable to three
exceptions. The first is, that the emphatic pronoun of the Hebrew is not
fairly represented; the second, that the phrase it was done is much less
striking than it was; the third, that the Hebrew verb (rmaxA) does not mean
to speak but to say. See above, on Ps. iv. 5 (4). What was said, every
reader could supply from recollection of the narrative in Genesis.—Stood,
appeared, came into existence. Compare Ps. cxix. 90, 91.
10. Jehovah has annulled the counsel of nations; he has frustrated the
plans of the peoples. What he has done he can do, although this is not
explicitly affirmed. He who created and sustains the universe can frustrate,
as he pleases, the designs of his own creatures, whether individuals or
nations, from whom, therefore, his own people can have nothing to fear.
11. The counsel of Jehovah to eternity shall stand; the thoughts of his
heart to generation and generation. This is the converse of the proposition.
For the same reason that no purpose of his creatures can succeed against
his will, no opposition of the creature can affect the execution of his own
designs.—Counsel, plan, purpose.—Thoughts of his heart, conceptions or
intentions of his mind.—To generation and generation, a common idiomatic
phrase meaning one generation after another, or indefinitely, all generations.
VER. 12-19.]
PSALM XXXIII.
143
12. Happy the nation whose God (is) Jehovah, the people he hath chosen
for a heritage for him. This is the centre of the whole psalm, the conclusion from what goes before, and the text or theme of all that follows. Under
the general proposition is included a particular felicitation of Israel as the
actual choice and heritage of God, i . e. chosen to be his, in a peculiar sense,
by hereditary succession, through a course of ages.
13. From heaven looked Jehovah; he saw all the sons of man (or Adam).
He looked not at any one time merely, but at all times; he has always
looked upon them since he first created them. As his omnipotence is constantly exerted to sustain them in existence, so his omniscience is continually
exercised in the same inspection as at first.
14. From the place of his dwelling he gazed at all the dwellers on the
earth. From his own residence without and above the earth, he has continued still to look intently upon its inhabitants. The verb is a poetical
one, stronger than the ordinary look. See Song Sol. ii. 9, Isa. xiv. 16.
15. The (God) forming all their hearts, the (God) attending to all their
deeds. The article agrees with the subject of the verb understood, and this
construction it is necessary to retain, in order to connect the sentence as
closely with the one before it as in the original. Forming implies knowing,
which is more distinctly expressed, in reference to their outward conduct,
in the other clause. God is also described as the creator of the human soul
in Zech. xii. 1. Compare Num. xvi. 22, xxvii. 16. His control of it is
expressly affirmed in reference to kings, Prov. xxi. 1.
16. Not at all is the king saved by greatness of force; a mighty (man)
shall not be freed by greatness of strength. It shall not be, because it is not
so, nor ever has been. The future therefore really includes a universal present. The negation is of course to be limited by what precedes, the saving
power of mere human strength being only denied as it stands opposed to
God, or affects to be independent of him. The Psalmist here begins a contrast between God's perfection and all created helps, considered as objects
of confidence. The king is a generic term, describing a whole class, more
strongly than our indefinite phrase, a king.
17. A lie (is) the horse for salvation, and by the greatness of his strength
he shall not deliver. This is a mere specification of the general statement
in the sixteenth verse. The horse meant is the war-horse, and is singled
out as one of the elements of military strength in which the ancients were
especially disposed to trust. See above, on Ps. xx. 8 (7), and compare Isa.
xxxi. 1-3. A lie, a falsehood, i. e. something which deceives and disappoints
the confidence reposed in it. The deliverance and salvation here referred
to are deliverance and salvation from the perils of war.
18. Lo, the eye of Jehovah (is) towards his fearers, to those waiting for his
mercy. While the material strength of other men fails to secure them, those
who fear the Lord, and hope in his mercy, are secure beneath his vigilant inspection.
That this is intended for their good, is more distinctly stated in the next verse.
19. To deliver from death their soul, and to keep them alive in the famine.
The sentence is continued from the foregoing verse. His eye is towards
them for the very purpose of interposing when he sees it to be necessary,
for the rescue of their soul, their life, from death in general, to which is
added one specific form of danger well known to the ancient Hebrews. The
famine is a similar expression to the king in ver. 16, and to our common
phrase the pestilence, when used in a generic sense, and not in reference to
any particular disease or visitation.
144
PSALM XXXIII.
[VER. 20-22.
20. Our soul has hoped (or waited) for Jehovah; our help and our shield
(is) He. In the remainder of the psalm, the people of God express their
trust in him, and pray that he will deal with them according to their faith.
The preterite expresses a habit already formed and fixed, and therefore really
including a description of the present. In the terms of this verse, there
appears to be a reference to the language of the Pentateuch in several places.
See Gen. xv. 1, xlix. 18, Deut. xxxiii. 29. The figure of a shield occurs
above, in Ps. iii. 4 (3), xviii. 3, 31, 36 (2, 30, 35). The position of the pronoun is
emphatic and significant. Our safety and protection are in him, and him alone.
21. For in him shall our heart rejoice, for in his holy name have we
trusted. The consecution of the tenses is not unmeaning or fortuitous.
The Psalmist's assurance of the future is derived from the possession of a
faith already tried and proved to be truly in existence. It is because he
has trusted that he knows he shall rejoice. The exchange of both these
tenses for a present is at once enfeebling to the sense and ungrammatical.—
His holy name, in the wide sense which the epithet so often has in this book,
nearly corresponding to his glorious, his divine name. See above on Ps.
xxii. 4 (3). To trust in this name is to build one's hopes on the manifestation of God's attributes in previous acts; to believe that what he [has
heretofore shewn himself to be, he will be still in the experience of his
people.
22. Be thy mercy, Jehovah, upon us, as we have waited for thee. The
faith implied in this hope being the sole condition of God's mercy, its possession constitutes a claim upon that mercy, which is here urged as the
sum of all the previous petitions. What is thus waited for cannot but be
realised. A merciful and righteous God cannot, without denial of himself,
withhold that which his people thus expect. Any appearance of a meritorious claim is excluded by the doctrine sufficiently implied here and abundantly taught elsewhere, that the condition is as much the gift of God as
that which is suspended on it. The claim in reality amounts to a petition
that as God had given the desire he would fulfil it.—As, according as, not
merely since, because, in proportion to our faith, so deal with us. Compare Mat. ix. 29.
PSALM XXXIV.
AFTER the title containing the historical occasion, ver. 1, the Psalmist expresses his determination to praise God for his goodness as experienced
already, ver. 2, 3, (1, 2), and invites others to unite with him in so doing,
ver. 4 (3). He then briefly states his own experience, ver. 5-7 (4-6), and
founds upon it the general doctrine of God's care for his own people, ver.
8-11 (7-10). Assuming then the tone of an instructor, he lays down
rules for the securing of this great advantage, ver. 12-15 (11-14), and
contrasts, in the remainder of the psalm, the safety of the righteous, even
when afflicted, with the certain ruin of the wicked, ver. 16-23 (15-22).
The psalm is so evidently a didactic one, or maschil, that an express
designation of this character was not required. See above, on Ps. xxxii. 1.
As to its form, this is the second instance of an alphabetical psalm, approaching very nearly to perfect regularity, the only letter omitted being v
It is very remarkable that here, as in Ps. xxv. the last verse begins with J,
like ver. 16, and seems to be added to the alphabetic series.
VER. 1-6.]
PSALM XXXIV.
145
1. By David, in (the time of) his changing (disguising) his reason before
Abimelech, and he drove him away, and he went. The incident referred to
is recorded in 1 Sam. xxi. David, having fled from Saul into the land of
the Philistines, was brought into the presence of Achish king of Gath, from
whom he had reason to expect retaliation for injuries formerly received, and
therefore pretended to be mad, an expedient which, in spite of its dubious
morality, it pleased God to allow to be successful. In grateful recollection
of this undeserved deliverance, not without some compunction with respect
to the means by which he had secured it, David seems, at a later period of
his life, to have composed this psalm for popular instruction, to which it is
peculiarly adapted by its clearness and simplicity, as well as by its alphabetic form, which is a valuable aid to the memory.—In his changing does
not necessarily designate the date of composition, but only that of the
event which gave occasion to it. The common version, behaviour, is inconsistent with the usage of the Hebrew word, which means taste, judgment, understanding, reason.—Abimelech, king's father, hereditary sovereign, was the traditional title of the king. See Gen. xx. 2, xxvi. 1. His
personal name was Achish, 1 Sam. xxi. 10, 11, 12, 14.
2 (1). I will bless Jehovah at every time: always his praise (shall be) in
my mouth. The promise of unceasing praise suggests the idea of extraordinary benefits
to call it forth. —In all time, in every variety of situation, even the most discouraging,
he is resolved to bear in mind what God has done for him in times past.
3 (2). In Jehovah shall glory my soul; the humble shall hear and rejoice.
The first verb is strictly a reflective form, and means to praise one's self,
i. e. to boast, or, as denoting a more permanent affection of the mind, to
glory, i. e. to exult in the possession and enjoyment of some admired and
beloved object. The act of glorying is ascribed to the soul, in order to
describe it as done cordially, ex animo.—The humble, as opposed to the
proud and the presumptuous, is a general description of God's people, who
are naturally interested in the good experienced by the Psalmist, both for
his sake and their own. See above, on Ps. xxii. 27 (26), xxv. 9.
4 (3). Magnify (praise) to Jehovah with me, and let us exalt his name
together. In Ps. lxix. 31 (30), the verb to magnify is construed directly
with its object, but in this case with a dative, to Jehovah, which may either
be regarded as a poetical equivalent to the accusative, or connected with the
noun praise understood, or with name, supplied from the other clause.
5 (4). I sought Jehovah, and he answered me, and from all my fears
delivered me. He here begins to assign a reason why he and others should
praise God. He had delivered him from all his fears by removing the
occasions of them. The same plural form occurs Isa. lxvi. 4.
6 (5). They looked unto him and brightened, and let not their faces blush.
The plural they refers to the whole class of which the Psalmist was the
representative.—Brightened, or as we say in English, brightened up, is a
natural expression of relief and renewed cheerfulness. In the last clause
the optative form is substituted for that of simple affirmation, so as to
increase the emphasis. The wish, let not their faces blush, implies that
there is danger of their doing so, and need of divine grace to prevent it.
7 (6). This sufferer called, and Jehovah heard, and from all his distresses
saved him. From the general expressions of the preceding verse, he now
recurs to his own case in particular. This sufferer, or afflicted one, meaning himself, as we say in modern phrase, the speaker or the writer, as a
periphrasis for the personal pronoun.
146
PSALM XXXIV.
[VER. 7-13.
8 (7). Encamping (is) the angel of Jehovah round about his fearers—and
(now) he has rescued them. The angel, not only in the collective sense of
angels, but in its specific sense, as denoting the Angel of the Lord by way
of eminence, the angel of the covenant and of the divine presence (Isa.
lxiii. 9), in whom the manifestation of the Godhead took place under the
Old Testament. As this angel was the captain of the Lord's host (Josh. v.
14, 1 Kings xxii. 19), his presence implies that of many others, and the
word encamp is therefore perfectly appropriate. The conversive future
represents the act denoted by the last verb as consequent upon the other.
This grammatical relation can only be imperfectly expressed in a translation, though the general idea is sufficiently clear.
9 (8). Taste ye and see that Jehovah is good; happy the man who will
trust in him. The only proof is furnished by experience. The exhortation
seems to imply that the provision is already made and only waiting for the
guests. Compare Luke xiv. 17, and see above, on Ps. ii. 12.
10 (9). Fear Jehovah, ye his saints, for there is no want to his fearers.
The fear of God is here put, as in several other places, for the whole of
piety or genuine religion, which must ever rest upon the basis of profound
awe and veneration. See Ps. ii. 11, Prov. i. 7, ix. 10. His saints, those
set apart and consecrated to his service, and as such bound to be holy in
the strict sense. See above, on Ps. xvi. 3. The last clause represents
this as no less the interest than the duty of God's people. They are called
upon to fear him, not only because fear is due to him, but because it is the
surest method of securing their own safety and supplying their own wants.
11 (10). Young lions have lacked and hungered, and the seekers of Jehovah
shall not want all (or any) good. The first verb properly means grown poor
or become impoverished, and is therefore strictly applicable only to a human
subject, a sufficient proof that such a subject is really referred to here under
the figure of a lion, which is frequently used elsewhere to denote men of
strength and violence. See Job iv. 10, 11, and compare Ps. lvii. 5 (4),
Nahum ii. 12-14 (11-13), Ezek. xix. 2, 3, xxxviii. 13. The sentiment
then is, that while the most powerful and least scrupulous of men may be
reduced to want, the people of God shall be abundantly and constantly
provided for. The contrast is analogous to that presented in Isa. xl. 30, 31.
12 (11). Come, sons, hearken to me; the fear of Jehovah I will teach
you. As one experienced in the ways of God, he now addresses those less
enlightened, and invites them to avail themselves of his instructions. Sons
or children is a natural and common designation of the pupil as related to
the teacher. Compare Prov. i. 8, 10, 15. To teach men the fear of the
Lord is to teach them how and why they should fear him. And accordingly we find in the ensuing verses a practical argument in favour of true
piety derived from its beneficent effects on those who cherish it and practise it.
13 (12). Who (is) the man, the (one) desiring life, loving days (in which)
to see good? The interrogation is equivalent to saying, whosoever desires
life, i. e. desires to live, not in the sense of mere existence but of genuine
enjoyment, which is distinctly expressed in the last clause by the words
loving days, i. e. desiring many days or long life, not for its own sake, but
as a time of happiness. Whoever does desire this—and the wish must of
course be universal—let him observe the following precepts. To see good
is to know it by experience, to possess it and enjoy it. See above, on Ps.
iv. 7 (6).
14 (13). Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile.
VER 14-17.]
PSALM XXXIV.
147
The man who was inquired for in ver. 13 (12), is here directly addressed.
Whoever thou art, if thou desire thus to live, keep, watch, guard, thy tongue
from speaking evil, a comprehensive phrase, for which the last clause substitutes one more specific, namely, speaking guile, uttering deceit, or lying.
The stress here laid upon this sin is so remarkable, when viewed in connection with the means by which David escaped from Achish, as suggested
in the title, that it can only be explained by supposing that he looked on
the success of his deception as a most unmerited forbearance upon God's
part, which, far from recommending the same course in other cases, made
it incumbent on the Psalmist to dissuade others from it.
15 (14). Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. Not
only in relation to this one sin, but to all, if thou desire to enjoy life, depart from evil, break off the practice and abjure the love of it; and since
this is neither practicable nor sufficient as a mere negation, effect it by a
positive performance of its opposite, do good. Compare the exhortation in
Isa. i. 16, 17, Cease to do evil, learn to do good. The last clause may be
explained as a return from generals to particulars, hostility and hatred being
singled out as falsehood and deceit were in the preceding verse. Compare
Rona. xii. 18, 2 Cor. xiii. 11. Or peace may be understood as comprehending peace with God and the enjoyment of his favour.—In either of these
senses, or in both, if thou desire to enjoy life, seek peace, not in an indolent
and listless manner, but pursue it, chase it, hunt for it, and eagerly endeavour to attain it. The command implies that the object is both worthy
of pursuit and liable to be lost.
16 (15). The eyes of Jehovah (are) towards the righteous, and his ears
towards their cry. The inducement to comply with the foregoing precepts
is that God will protect his servants from those dangers against which
neither violence nor craft can secure them. They have no need neither to
speak guile or break the peace, in order to be safe from injury. Another
watches over them, whose vigilance cannot be eluded or exhausted. The
eyes of the Lord are to the righteous, i. e. open to them, or turned towards
them, so that he continually sees their true condition, and his ears are
directed to their cry, or open to receive it. This, without a figure, means,
that he is constantly apprised of their necessities and ready to receive their
prayers, in which assurance that of safety and abundance is fully comprehended.
17 (16). The face of Jehovah (is) with evil-doers, to destroy from the
earth their memory. The same unsleeping vigilance is exercised towards
others also, but for a very different purpose. The face of the Lord is with
evil-doers, i. e. visible or present to them, no less than to good men. The
preposition before evil-doers is not the same that occurs twice in the verse
preceding, and which properly denotes direction, but another meaning in,
or with. The unfavourable sense, against, which it may seem to have both
here and elsewhere (e. g. Jer. xxi. 10, xliv. 11), is suggested by the context.
In all these cases some interpreters suppose the sense to be that the eyes
or face of God penetrate, as it were, and rest in the object.—The design
with which Jehovah watches evil-doers is not to interpose for their deliverance or relief, but to destroy from the earth their very memory, a strong
expression for entire extirpation. Compare Exod. xvii. 14, Deut. xxv. 19,
Isa. xxvi. 14, and see above, on Ps. ix. 6, 7 (5, 6).
18 (17). They cried and Jehovah heard, and fromt all their distresses delivered them. This may at first sight seem to have respect to the evil-doers
of the preceding verse, who are then represented as obtaining relief from
148
PSALM XXXIV.
[VER. 18-22.
deserved judgments by humble prayer to God. But as the wicked are, in
this whole passage, mentioned only incidentally, and as a kind of foil or
contrast to the righteous, it seems better on the whole, to make the first
verb here indefinite, men cry for help, but with special reference to the
righteous of ver. 16 (15). God watches over the righteous to protect them
—as he does over the wicked to destroy them—and whenever they cry to
him for help, he saves them. This parenthetical construction of ver. 17
(16) is the more admissible because it contains no finite verb, whereas ver.
18 (17) contains three.
19 (18). Near (is) Jehovah to the broken in heart, and the crushed in
spirit he will save. These figurative terms are always used in a good sense
and applied to humble penitents. See Ps. li. 19 (17), Isa. lvii. 15, lxi. 1,
lxvi. 2. They are descriptive of the contrition wrought by divine grace in
the hearts of sinners. To such the Lord is always near, i. e. ready to
deliver and protect. See above, on Ps. xxii. 12 (11).
20 (19). Many evils (befall) the righteous, and from them all will Jehovah
deliver him. The preceding promise might have seemed to imply exemption from all suffering; but this can only be enjoyed in connection with exemption from all sin. While sin continues to exist, sorrow must coexist
with it, even in the case of true believers or the righteous, who are never
described in this book as absolutely sinless. See above, Ps. xix. 13 (12),
xxv. 7. While the sufferings of the righteous shew them to be sinners,
their deliverance illustrates the divine compassion. The relation of the
clauses would in our idiom require a but instead of the simple copulative,
which the Hebrew writers commonly employ in such connection.
21 (20). Keeping all his bones—not one of them is broken. The sentence
may be completed by supplying the substantive verb: (he is) keeping, i. e.
habitually keeps; but it is simpler and better to regard this and the verse
before it as one sentence, and the participle as agreeing regularly with
Jehovah.—Keeping, in the pregnant sense of watching and preserving.—
His bones, his frame, his body. See above, Ps. xxxii. 3, and below, Ps.
xxxv. 10.—The literal translation of the last clause, one of them is not
broken, would be equivocal in English. The original expression occurs also in Isa. xxxiv.
16. The doctrine or promise of this verse is analogous to that in Mat. x. 30.
22 (21.) Evil shall slay the wicked, and the haters of the righteous shall
be guilty. While the sufferings of which the righteous man is a partaker
are but temporary, those of the wicked shall be ultimately fatal. See above,
on Ps. xxxii. 10. Evil must have the same sense in both cases, namely,
that of physical evil, suffering or misfortune. The result here described is
not fortuitous, but brought about by moral causes. They must be destroyed because
they are found guilty, i. e. of rebellion against God, one conclusive proof of which
is afforded by their hatred of his people. They shall be guilty, i. e. recognised and
known as such and treated accordingly. "The sufferings of the wicked man, unlike
those of the righteous, tend to death, because the hatred of the former to the latter
proves himself to be worthy of destruction."
23 (22.) Jehovah redeems the soul of his servants, and guilty shall none be
(of) those trusting in him. The precise form of the first clause in Hebrew
is, Jehovah redeeming the soul of his servants, which seems to mean that he
is doing so now, and that he habitually does so. The soul or vital principle
is named because the case was one of life and death. None of those trusting in him shall be recognised and treated as guilty, the opposite of that
VER. 1-3.]
PSALM XXXV.
149
which had been just asserted of the wicked. The condition and ground of
this immunity is faith or trust in God, without which, according to the
doctrine of both testaments, there can be no escape from guilt or punishment.
PSALM XXXV.
WE have here another of those psalms, in which two great parties, the
righteous and the wicked, are exhibited in contrast and in an attitude of
mutual hostility. The psalm may be divided into three parts, parallel to
one another, in all of which the elements combined are complaint, prayer,
and the promise of thanksgiving for anticipated deliverance. The first
division is occupied with an invocation of divine judgments on God's enemies, ending with an expression of triumph in God's favour, ver. 1-9. The
second contains a more particular description of these enemies, as oppressors, false accusers, unthankful renderers of evil for good, and malignant
scoffers, with a prayer for the divine interposition, and a pledge of public
thanksgiving, ver. 10-18. The third renews briefly the description of the
enemy, but is chiefly filled with prayer to be delivered from them, and
closes, like the others, with a promise of perpetual thanksgiving, ver. 19-28.
1. By David. Oppose, Jehovah, my opposers; devour my devourers.
The correctness of the title is confirmed by the appearance of allusion to
1 Sam. xxiv. 16 (15), the incident recorded in which place may have been
present to the Psalmist's mind although we have no reason to believe that
he wrote it with exclusive reference to that time or to himself, but for the
use of pious sufferers in general.—Strive with my strivers, or contend with
my contenders. The original verb is one specifically used to denote judicial
contest, litigation, in which sense a cognate noun is used below, ver. 23,
and the English Bible thus translates the verse before us: plead (my cause)
with them that strive against me; fight against them that fight against me.
It is only in the passive form, however, that MHl means to fight; its primary sense is to devour. The application of this metaphor to warfare is
not uncommon. See below, Ps. lvi. 2, 3 (1, 2), and compare Num. xiv. 9,
xxiv. 8, Deut. vii. 16.
2. Lay hold of shield and buckler; and stand up in my defence (or for
my help). The manifestation of God's saving and protecting power is
described in Scripture under various figures corresponding to the form of
the particular suffering or danger. Against injustice he appears as an advocate or judge (see ver. 23 below); against violence as a warrior (see Deut.
xxxii. 41, 42). In this character the Psalmist here entreats him to appear,
and for that end to seize, grasp, or lay hold of his weapons of defence.
The shield and buckler seem to have been different in size (1 Kings x.
16, 17), though not in use.—Arise, address thyself to action. See above,
on Ps. iii. 8 (7).—In my help is by some explained to mean as my help,
i. e. my helper; but the Hebrew idiom seems to be identical with our phrase
in my defence.
3. And draw out the spear, and stop (the way) against my pursuers; say
to my soul, Thy salvation (am) I. The first verb properly means empty,
pour out, and then draw out. Some suppose the expression to be strictly
applicable only to the sword, but to be here applied by a kind of poetic
licence to the spear. Others suppose it to be strictly used, but in relation
to the drawing of it out of its repository or concealment. Some explain
150
PSALM XXXV.
[VER. 4-7.
rgs as a foreign word, identical with the Scythian sa<garij, or battle-axe.
But no such word occurs in Hebrew elsewhere, and the meaning of the
verb rgasA, is entirely appropriate, to close or stop the way against another.
Against, or literally to meet, in a hostile or military sense which the word
has in Deut. i. 44, Josh. viii. 14, and elsewhere.—To my soul; see above,
on Ps. xi. 1.—Thy salvation, see below, Ps. xxxviii. 23 (22).
4. Shamed and confounded be the seekers of my soul; turned back and
made to blush the devisers of my hurt. Entirely disappointed in their
hopes and efforts. The optative meaning of the futures is determined
by the unambiguous form yhiy; in ver. 6 below. The seekers of my soul or
life, i. e. such as seek it to destroy it. Compare Mat. ii. 13, 20. Turned
back, disgracefully repulsed and defeated. See above, on Ps. ix. 18 (17).
Made to blush: the form of the verb in Hebrew is not causative, but simply
means to blush or be confused. The causative form is here employed in
order to give uniformity to the English sentence.—My hurt, literally my
evil, i. e. evil fortune, calamity, or injury.—Devisers, literally thinkers, i. e.
such as meditate or purpose my destruction.
5. Let them be as chaff before a wind, and the angel of Jehovah smiting.
Under the influence of inspiration, the Psalmist sees the natural and righteous consequences of their wickedness, and viewing the case merely in itself,
apart from personal feeling, speaks of this effect as desirable. The wish
expressed is, to all intents and purposes, equivalent to a prediction or the
affirmation of a general truth. The Psalmist desires the destruction of these
sinners precisely as God wills it; nor is it any harder to reconcile such
wishes with the highest degree of human goodness than it is to reconcile
the certain fact that God allows some men to perish with his infinite benevolence. The figure of chaff before the wind suggests the idea of intrinsic
worthlessness with that of easy and complete destruction. Compare Ps.
i. 4. The participle at the close means striking (them) down, so that they
cannot rise. Compare Ps. xxxvi. 13 (12). The angel of Jehovah, his
appointed instrument of vengeance. See above, on Ps. xxxiv. 8 (7).
6. Let their way be dark and slippery, and the angel of Jehovah chasing
them. The optative form of the verb at the beginning determines the sense
of those which go before, and which otherwise might be ambiguous.—Dark
and slippery, literally darkness and srnoothnesses, an emphatic substitution
of the abstract for the concrete. The fearful image thus suggested of men
driven, like chaff before the wind, along a dark and slippery path, is
rendered more terrific by the additional idea of their being hotly pursued by
the destroying angel. The construction of the last clause, both in this verse
and the one before it, is: (let) the angel of Jehovah (be) pursuing them.
7. For without cause they hid for me their pit fall; without cause they
digged for my soul. This verse assigns the reason of the imprecations or
denunciations which precede.—Without cause, wantonly, gratuitously, unprovoked, and therefore prompted by mere malice. See below, ver. 19.—
The pit of their net is an idiomatic phrase like the hill of my holiness. See
above, on Ps. ii. 6. The true sense of the phrase appears to be their netpit, i. e. their pit covered with a net, a figure borrowed from .the ancient
modes of hunting. See above, on Ps. vii. 16 (15), ix. 16 (15). In the
last clause we may either supply a relative, as in the common version, which
they digged, or take the verb in the absolute sense of making a pit or ditch.
VER. 8-13.]
PSALM XXXV.
151
8. Let ruin come (upon) him (when) he does not know; and his net which
he hid—let it take him—with ruin (to his ruin) let him fall into it. The first
noun properly denotes a crash, as of a falling house, and then a ruin, both
in the narrower and wider sense. When he does not know, unawares, unexpectedly, as in Isa. xlvii. 11, Job. ix. 5. The last clause may also be
translated, into ruin let him fall into it, i. e. as the common version has it,
into that very ruin. But it is simpler to let hxAOwB; qualify the verb; let
him fall with ruin, i. e. ruinously to his own destruction.
9. And my soul shall exult in Jehovah, shall joy in his salvation. Our
idiom would require so or then at the beginning of the sentence, to make
the connection of the verses clear.—In Jehovah, not merely on account of
him, but in union with him and possession of him, as the parallel phrase,
in his salvation, means in the experience and enjoyment of it. This is a
kind of promise that the favour asked shall not be unrequited by thanksgiving, and the same idea is still further carried out in the next verse.
10. All my bones shall say, Jehovah, who is like thee, delivering the sufferer
from (one) stronger than himself, and the sufferer and the needy from his
spoiler? The bones, the frame, the person, are here put for the whole man.
See above, on Ps. xxxii. 3. The interrogative form implies negation. "There is no such
saviour besides God." The apparent tautology may be relieved in English by translating
even the sufferer, &c. But such repetitions are entirely congenial to the Hebrew idiom.
With the second clause compare Jer. xxxi. 11, and with the third Ps. x. 2.
11. There rise up witnesses of violence; (as to) that which I have not known
they ask me. The future verbs describe the acts as still in progress, and as
likely to be long continued. They are rising or about to rise, asking or about
to ask. The word translated violence is one of very frequent occurrence in
the psalms, and includes the ideas of injustice and cruelty. See above, on
Ps. vii. 17 (16), xi. 5, xviii. 49 (48), xxv. 19, xxvii. 12. "They endeavour
to draw from me the acknowledgment of crimes which I have not committed,
and of which I have no knowledge."
12. They repay me evil for good—bereavement to my soul. "If given up
to them, I have nething to expect but a continued recompence of evil for
good, extending even to the loss of what is most essential to my being and
well-being." The word translated bereavement commonly means loss of children, but
is here used metaphorically for the most extreme and lamentable destitution.
13. And I—in their sickness my clothing (was) sackcloth; I humbled with
fasting my soul—and my prayer into my bosom shall return. The general
idea is that he displayed the deepest sympathy with their distresses. This
idea is expressed by figures borrowed from the oriental mourning usages.
Sackcloth, fasting, and prayer are here particularly mentioned. To humble
the soul (or one's self), or as some explain it, to mortify the appetite, is the
phrase by which fasting is described in the Law of Moses (Lev. xvi. 31,
xxiii. 27, 32, Num. xxix. 7), and which is here combined with the later
word MUc—The last clause is obscure, and is by some understood to signify
the constancy of supplication, coming back and going out again without
cessation. Others explain it as a mere description of the attitude of prayer
with the head bowed upon the bosom, as if he had said, I was continually
pouring prayer into my bosom. But neither of these explanations is so
probable as the traditional one of the Jews, according to which he desires
that the prayer which he offered for them might redound to his own advantage. Or the clause may be still more simply construed as a prediction
152
PSALM XXXV
[VER. 14-17.
"My prayer shall not be lost, it shall return in blessings to the heart which
prompted it."
14. As (if it had been) a friend, a brother to me, I went on (or went about);
as a mourner for a mother, squalid I bowed down. He not only mourned in
their calamity, but with the deepest grief, as for a friend, a brother, or a
parent, which terms are so arranged as to produce a beautiful and striking
climax.—The verb in the first clause corresponds very nearly to the familiar
English phrase went on, in the sense of lived or habitually acted. See
above, on Ps. i. 1.—The Hebrew word rdEq means squalid, dirty, in allusion
to the ancient oriental practice of neglecting the appearance, and even
covering the dress and person with dust and ashes, as a token of extreme
grief. The bowing down is also to be taken as a part of the same usage.
15. And (yet) in my limping they rejoiced, and were gathered together;
there were gathered together against me cripples, and I did not know (it): they
did tear and were not silent. With his behaviour to them in their affliction
he contrasts theirs to him. As disease in general is a common figure for
distress, so lameness in particular is so used here and in Ps. xxxviii. 18
(17), Jer. xx. 10. They assembled not to comfort but to mock him and
revile him.—The obscure word Mykine has been variously explained to mean
smiters with the tongue (Jer. xviii. 18), i. e. slanderers—whipped (Job
xxx. 8), i. e. degraded criminals—and smitten (Isa. liii. 4), i. e. afflicted.
But Luther's explanation, which connects the word with the cognate form
Myilag;ra hken; (2 Sam. iv. 4. ix. 3), smitten in the feet, lame, crippled, not only
yields a good sense, but agrees best with the figure of the first clause.
'When I limped cripples mocked at me'—i. e. those who were themselves
contemptible treated me with contempt. I did not know it. It was done
behind my back, and while I was entirely unsuspicious. See above, on
ver. 8. This is a more natural construction than whom I did not know,
Which is, moreover, inconsistent with what goes before.—They rent or tore
me by their slanders.
16. With worthless mockers for bread—gnashing against me their teeth.
This they did in the company of impious, reprobate, or worthless scoffers,
who calumniate others for the sake of gaining favour with their wicked
patrons. Hence they are called bread or cake scoffers, those who earn their
food by spiteful mockery of others. The form of the whole verse is
extremely idiomatic, and scarcely admits of an exact translation. The
literal meaning of the first clause is with the worthless of mockers of bread,
and in the second the verb gnash is an infinitive, which can only be rendered in intelligible English by a participle or a finite verb, they gnashed, or
gnashing. This is always expressive of malignant rage, and shews that
what is here described is not mere raillery but spiteful defamation.
17. Lord, how long wilt thou look on? Restore my soul from their
rains (or ruinous plots), from the young lions my lonely one. The first
Hebrew word is not Jehovah but Adhonai, properly expressive of dominion
or sovereignty. See above, on Ps. xvi. 2—How long? The Hebrew phrase
usually means how much, but is here specially applied to time; how much
time? how long? Wilt thou see what treatment I receive, and merely see
it, as an indifferent spectator?—Restore my soul has not the same sense as
in Ps. xix. 8 (7), xxiii. 3, but the strict one of bringing back from the dangerous extreme to which he had been brought by the ruins or ruinous devices—i. e. designed to ruin others—of his enemies. Lions are mentioned
VER. 18-22.]
PSALM XXXV.
153
as the strongest and fiercest of wild beasts, and young lions as the most
active of their specics. See above, on Ps. xxxiv. 11 (10).—My lonely, solitary soul. See above, on Ps. xxii. 21 (20).
18. I will thank thee in the great assembly, in (the midst of the) mighty
people I will praise, thee On the supposition that his prayer will be heard
and answered, he engages to give public thanks, in the great congregation
or assembly of God's people. See above, on Ps. xxii. 23, 26 (22, 25).—
Strong people, strong in numbers, a poetical equivalent to great congregation.—The verb in the last clause means to praise in general; that in the
first to praise for benefits received, to acknowledge favours, in other words
to thank. See above, on Ps. xxxiii. 2.
19. Let them not rejoice respecting me, my enemies of falsehood, (and let
not) my haters without cause wink the eye. Respecting me, at my expense,
or, in this and similar connections, over me, although this idea is not so
much expressed in the text as suggested by the context. See above, Ps.
xxv. 2, and below, ver. 24, Ps. xxxviii. 17 (16). Let them not rejoice, let
them have no occasion so to do.—My enemies of falsehood, my false enemies,
who gratify their spite by calumny and slander.—My haters without cause,
those who hate me gratuitously, out of sheer spite, without any reasonable
ground or even colourable pretext. This is a favourite description of the
enemies of the righteous—see above, on Ps. vii. 5 (4), xxv. 3—and was
pre-eminently true of the enemies of Christ, to whom it is applied in the
New Testament (John xv. 25). The negation of the first clause is to be
repeated in the other, as in Ps. ix. 19 (18). Winking is here referred to
as a gesture of mutual congratulation among accomplices in guilt. Compare Prov. vi. 13, x 10.
20. For not peace will they speak, and against the quiet of the land words
of deceits will they devise. The for assigns a reason why they ought not to
be suffered to rejoice in the success of their designs. The reason is,
because their design, are evil, tending not to peace—in the strict sense, as
opposed to strife, or in the wide sense, as opposed to trouble and calamity
—but to the disturbance of those who are peacefully inclined, the quiet (or
tranquil) of the land, i. e. the land of promise, considered as the home of
God's chosen people, who, as its rightful proprietors, are characteristically
peaceful, and averse from all strife and disorder. Compare Mat. v. 5. To
disturb these, the wicked devise words of deceits, in which phrase words is
not an idiomatic pleonasm,—compare xli. 9 (8), lxv. 4 (3), —but a substantive expression, meaning false (or lying) words, and more specifically
slanders—see below, Ps. xxxvi. 4 (3)—the utterers of which are called
lying enemies in ver. 19. The futures of this verse include the present:
they do so now and will do so still. Some connect not peace as an
emphatic compound, meaning just the opposite of peace. Compare Isa. x. 15.
21. And have widened against me their mouth; they have said, Aha, aha,
our eye has seen. "They have mocked at my distress with contemptuous
grimaces, and rejoiced in the fulfilment of their spiteful wishes." With
the first clause compare Ps. xxii. 8 (7) above. The Hebrew interjection in
the last clause (HxAh,) seems to be a natural expression of joyful surprise.
Their success was almost too great to be real, yet attested by their senses.
The verse ends with a kind of aposiopesis: "our own eyes have seen"—
what we could not have believed on the report of another, to wit, the gratification of our warmest wishes. See below, ver. 25.
22. Thou hast seen, Jehovah, be not silent; Lord, be not far from me.
154
PSALM XXXV.
[VER. 23-27.
"But they are not the only witnesses of my distress, for thou, Lord, likewise seest and hast long seen it. Seeing it, therefore, be no longer silent;
refrain no longer from interposing in my favour; speak in my behalf; be
near me in this time of peril." The connection of the verses is like that
in Ps. x. 13, 14, and the prayer in the last clause not unlike that with
which the same psalm opens. With the other petition, be not silent, compare that at the beginning of Ps. xxviii., and with the first words, thou hast
seen, those of ver. 17 above.
23. Arouse (thee) and awake for my right (or judgment), my God and
me Lord, for my cause. "Put an end to this inaction and apparent indifference, and manifest thy presence, as my sovereign and my covenantkeeping God, for the vindication of my innocence against false accusers and
us righteous judges." The same petition, clothed in nearly the same words,
occurs above in Ps. vii. 7, 9 (6, 8). See also Ps. ix. 5 (4), xvii.
24. Judge me according to thy righteousness, Jehovah, my God, and let
them not rejoice respecting me. "Do me justice, clear me from aspersion,
grant an attestation of my innocence, in the exercise and exhibition of thine
own essential rectitude, and in accordance with that covenant relation
which exists between us; and thus, in the most effectual manner, take away
from my malignant enemies all pretext and occasion for exulting in my
overthrow, or otherwise triumphing at my expense." With the last clause
compare Ps. xxx. 2 (1) above, where he thanks God for the very favour
which he here asks. The verb in this clause may be referred to men in
general, or with still greater probability to the enemies described in the
preceding context.
25. Let them not say in their heart, Aha, our soul (or our heart's desire)!
Let them not say, We have swallowed him up! In their heart, not secretly,
but cordially, not as opposed to saying so to others, but to mere profession.
—Our heart's desire! an abbreviated exclamation prompted by strong feeling.
"This is precisely what we have so long and so intensely wished for! "See
above, on Ps. xxvii. 12. Let them not say, let them not have occasion so to
say; let not the events which befall me justify them in so saying.—Swallowed
him up, utterly destroyed him. See above, on Ps. xxi. 10 (9), and compare Lam. ii. 16,
where the form of expression is no doubt copied from the verse before us.
26. Let them be ashamed and blush together—the rejoicers in my evil; let
them put on shame and contempt the (men) magnifying against me (their
words, or their deeds, or themselves)! The relative construction, who
rejoice in my hurt, who magnify against me, gives the sense, but in an English.
rather than a Hebrew form.—Ashamed, disappointed and defeated. See
above, on ver. 4.—Blush, be confused or confounded.—My evil, i. e. evil
fortune, injury, including the idea of injustice, as the antithetical term in
ver. 27 is righteousness or justification.—Put on, as a dress, and wear it, or
be covered with it. See below, on Ps. cix. 18 (17), and compare Job viii.
24.—Contempt, disgrace, ignominy.—Making great, &c., their mouth or
words, i. e. speaking proudly, Obad. 12, Ezek. xxxv. 13; or still more probably and agreeably to usage, acting proudly, as in Ps. lv. 13 (12), and
elsewhere. The complete expression may be that used in Joel ii. 20.
27. Let them shout (or sing) and rejoice—the desirers of my righteousness
and let them always say, Great is (or be) Jehovah, the (God) willing (or
desiring) the peace of his servant! The sentence may be brought into closer
conformity to our idiom by adopting a relative construction. "Let them
rejoice who desire my righteousness," i. e. my justification, who desire to
VER. 1.]
PSALM XXXVI.
155
see me practically justified by God's providential dealings with me.—Let
them always say, i. e. always have occasion so to do, which is virtually wishing that the peace or prosperity of Jehovah's servant may be perpetual. The
verbal adjective in both these clauses means desiring, with a strong implication of complacency or satisfaction in the object, and therefore really includes
the two ideas of desire and delight.—The righteousness or justification of the
first clause is an obvious antithesis to the evil, hurt, or injury of ver. 26,
and no less obviously identical, or at least coincident, with the peace or
welfare of the last clause here.
28. And my tongue shall utter thy righteousness—all the day (long) thy
praise. The and connects the verse with what precedes, as the effect with
its occasion or its muse. This connection may be made clear in our idiom
by the use of a more definite particle, such as then or so.—The verb used
in this verse is applied elsewhere both to articulate and inarticulate animal
sounds. The nearest equivalent in English is to utter. For a secondary
or derived sense of the same verb, see above, on Ps. i. 2. —All the day long,
or every day, common expressions for continually, always.—The righteousness of the first clanse is the object of the praise in the second. The righteousness of God here mentioned has reference to the Psalmist's righteousness
in ver. 27. By vindicating this, the divine justice or fidelity acquires, as it
were, a new claim to the praises of the justified sinner, which he here declares
himself resolved to pay.
PSALM XXXVI.
THIS remarkable psalm consists of three distinguishable parts, besides
the title, ver. 1. The first contains a strong description of human depravity,
ver. 2-5 (1-4). The second contrasts with this the divine excellence, ver.
6-10 (5-9). In the third, the Psalmist prays to be delivered from the
first, and made a partaker of the second, with a strong assurance that his
desire will be fulfilled, ver. 11-13 (10-12).
The first part differs from the rest, in form as well as substance, being
much more obscure and difficult.
1. To the Chief Musician. By a Servant of Jehovah. By David. This
peculiar collocation of the words, which occurs only here and in the title of
the eighteenth psalm, seems to imply something more than would have been
conveyed by the description, David, a servant of Jehovah. The difference
intended may be this, that servant of Jehovah is not added to the name as
a descriptive epithet, but is itself the salient point of the inscription, the
name being added merely to identify the person. This would seem to shew
that, for some reason founded in the psalm itself, it is important that it be
regarded as the work of a servant of Jehovah, one inspired by him, perhaps
in opposition to the inspiration of depravity referred to in the next verse.
2 (1). Thus saith depravity to the wicked (one) in the midst of my heart,
there is no fear of God before his eyes. This is one of the most difficult and
doubtful verses in the whole book of Psalms. The first word in Hebrew
(Mxun;) is a passive participle used as a noun, like the Latin dictum, and
employed as a standing formula in prophecy to indicate the person speaking.
The usual combination is (hOAhy; Mxun;) a dictum of Jehovah, commonly
translated in our Bible, saith (or thus saith) the Lord. Instead of the divine
name, that of David is substituted in 2 Sam. xxiii. 1 (dviDA Mxun;) and the man
156
PSALM XXXVI.
[VER. 2.
there and also in Prov. xxx. 1 (rb,G,ha Mxun;), both which appear to be copied
from the words of Balaam in Num. xxiv. 15. The constant use of this
formula to introduce prophetic dicta seems to require an analogous interpretation of it here, as meaning something more than the mere act of speaking and suggesting the idea of an authoritative dictum or oracular response,
proceeding not from God nor from his prophets, but from sin (fwaP,), which
here supplies their place. A dictum of depravity, or, copying the paraphrastic but familiar version of hOAhy; Mxun; in the English Bible, thus saith
transgression or corruption.—The meaning of the next phrase (fwArAlA) is
determined by the analogy of Ps. cx. 1, where the same preposition, after
hOAhy; Mxun;, can only indicate the object of address, the saying of Jehovah
(or thus saith Jehovah) to my Lord. So here, the true construction is not,
the transgression of the wicked, which indeed is ungrammatical, but thus saith
transgression to the wicked. The only possible modification of this syntax,
at all justified by usage, is to make fwArAlA denote the subject, not the object
of the dictum—thus saith depravity (as) to the wicked—this is the testimony
which it bears against him. This explanation, although not supported by
Psl cx. 1, is consistent with the frequent use of l to denote the subject, and
affords a good sense, namely, that depravity itself bore witness against the
wicked, in the Psalmist's mind, that there was no fear of God before his
eyes. If, on the other hand, fwArAlA indicates the object of address, the
first clause may be the words of the wicked man himself, and the last clause
the comment of the Psalmist on them. "Thus saith depravity to (me) the
wicked man, in the midst of my heart." There is no fear of God before his
eyes. That is to say, the wicked man makes sin his god, and its suggestions
his prophetic oracles, and thereby shews that there is no fear of God before
his eyes. By a different interpunction, this sense may be put upon the
sentence. Thus saith depravity to the wicked man: "In the midst of my
heart there is no fear of God before his eyes," or even in his presence. But
as this interpretation would make sin speak of its own heart in addressing
the sinner, and as the reference of his eyes to God is somewhat forced, the
choice seems to lie between the other two constructions before stated, one
of which yields the same sense that appears to be intended in the common
version, the transgression of the wicked saith within my heart that there is
no fear of God before his eyes, and that of the Prayer Book, my heart sheweth,
me the wickedness of the ungodly that there is, &c. Amidst these various
and doubtful explanations, one thing is certain, that the wicked man is here
described as one who fears not God, just as the fear of God is elsewhere
put for godliness or piety.
3 (2). For he has flattered himself in his own eyes, as to (God's) finding
his iniquity (and) hating (it). The obscurity of the original may be shown
by a bald translation. For he has made smooth to him in his eyes, to find
his iniquity to hate. To make smooth, here and in Prov. xxix. 5, is an
elliptical expression for making smooth the words or the actions, i.e.
speaking or acting in a flattering manner. See above, on Ps. v. 10 (9).
As there is no reflexive pronoun in Hebrew, the personal pronouns are
occasionally so used, him for himself, his for his own, &c. In this case,
however, it is possible to give them their strict meaning by referring them
toy God. He (the wicked man) has made (his words or actions) smooth to
him (i. e. to God), in his eyes (the eyes of God). In other words he has
VER. 3-6.]
PSALM XXXVI.
157
endeavoured to deceive him by a specious appearance. But this construction is less natural, because it makes the phrase in his eyes still more redundant, because it represents the sinner as a hypocrite, rather than a
bold, self-confident transgressor; and because it makes the last clause
more obscure and difficult. To find iniquity, i. e. to detect and punish it,
is an expression borrowed from Gen. xliv. 16. The unfavourable meaning
of the phrase is determined by the addition of the words to hate. The
reference of this clause to the sinner's own feelings is at variance with usage. With
the whole verse compare Deut. xxix. 18 (19), and see above, on Ps. x. 6.
4 (3). The words of his mouth (are) falsehood and fraud, he has ceased to
act wisely, to act well. The use of the abstract for the concrete, falsehood
and deceit for false and deceitful, adds to the strength of the expression.
What he say is not merely false, but falsity itself. For the precise
meaning of the Hebrew words, see above, on Ps. v. 6, 7 (5, 6). The verbs
of the last clause are in the causative form, which always has an
active meaning. To be wise is therefore an inadequate translation, and to
do good an ambiguous one, as this English phrase is specially applied to
acts of benefience or practical utility. The true sense of the last verb is
to do well or right, in opposition to doing wrong. See below, on Ps. xxxvii. 3.
Instead of ceasing from his sins, the sinner has abandoned even the appearance of well-doing. The form of expression is like that in Isa. i. 16.
5 (4). Falsehood he will meditate upon his bed; he will take his stand
upon a way not good; evil he will not abjure. The first word (Nv,xA), both in
this and the preceding verse, does not mean mere false speaking, but a
false character, one not according to the truth, of which the divine will is
the standard. It is therefore nearly equivalent to wickedness. The futures
express present habit and a settled purpose of continuance. While he continues what he is, he will continue thus to act. On his bed, by night, the
natural season of reflection. Or the idea may be, that instead of sleeping
he spends the hours of rest in meditating evil, or contriving mischief.—The
verb to set himself, or take his stand, is the same that occurred before in Ps.
2, and implies both a settled purpose and the commencement of its execution.—A way not good is an example of the figure called meiosis, in
which more meant than is expressed, although suggested by the context.
The idea really conveyed to every reader is that of an extremely bad way, or
the worst way possible.—The last verb means to reject or renounce with
contempt and abhorrence. See above, on Ps. xv. 4.
6 (5). O Jehovah, in the heavens (is) thy mercy, and thy faithfulness unto
the clouds. From the odious image of the sinner just presented he now
turns away to contemplate the divine perfections. The parallelism of the
clauses seem to shew that in the heavens means in heaven as well as on
earth, i. e. reaching from the one to the other, which idea is then literally expressed, as
far as, even to, or up to, the clouds, which last is simply an equivalent to heavens.—
Mercy and faithfulness are also parallels, the latter meaning God's fidelity or truth in the
fulfilment of his promises, even to the undeserving. See below, on Ps. xxxvii. 3.
7 (6). Thy righteousness (is) like the hills of the Almighty; thy judgments
(are) a great deep; man and beast thou wilt save, (O) Jehovah! Righteousness here means rectitude in its widest sense, including the veracity and
faithfulness mentioned in the foregoing verse. Judgments is an idiomatic
synonyme, thee plural being either used to give it an abstract meaning, as
in (Myy.iha) life, or to denote particular acts of righteousness. This attribute
158
PSALM XXXVI.
[VER. 7-10.
is here described as infinite, by a comparison with natural emblems of immeosity. The first mentioned are the mountains of God, or of the mighty
(God), the divine name here used being that which properly denotes omnipotence. See above, on Ps. v. 5 (4). By explaining this word as an
abstract, we obtain the sense, mountains of strength, i. e. strong mountains;
but the constant usage of the term as a divine name seems decisive in
favour of the sense, hills produced by the almighty power of God and
therefore proving it.—The great deep, the ocean, as in Gen. vii. 11.
(Compare Gen. i. 2). The idea conveyed is not so much that of depth
and mystery as that of vastness and immensity. The comprehensiveness
of God's protecting care is further indicated by the combination man and
beast (or brute). To save includes the acts of helping, protecting and providing.
8 (7). How precious (is) thy mercy, (O) God, and the sons of man in the
shadow of thy wings may trust (or take refuge). The richness of God's
mercy is apparent from the very fact that it affords protection to mankind,
mewling of course only those to whom it has been promised. The figure
of overspreading wings is carried out more fully in Deut. xxxii. 11, and
Mat. xxiii. 37.—For the meaning of the verb used in this verse, see above,
on Ps. ii. 12.
9 (8). They shall be drenched with the abundance of thy house; (with) the
stream of thy pleasures thou wilt water them (or give them drink). They, i. e.
such of the children of men as are permitted to take refuge under God's
protection.—Shall drink abundantly, or to satiety, be soaked or drenched.
The derivative noun occurs above, in Ps. xxiii. 5.—Abundance, literally fat
or fatness, put for the richest food. Thy house, thy household, with or
without allusion to the tabernacle, not as a place of worship merely, but
as the earthly residence of God. See above, on Ps. xxiii. 6, xxvii. 4. In
the second clause there is a beautiful allusion to the river which watered
the garden of Eden (Gen. ii. 10). This allusion, although lost in a translation, is marked in the original by the use of the word eden in the plural
number to mean pleasures or delights. The verb to water or make drink is
also the one used in Gen. ii. 10, which shews that it is not a mere fortuitous coincidence.
10 (9). For with thee is a fountain of life; in thy light shall we see light.
They shall derive all this from thee, because in thee alone is the exhaustless source of all these blessings.—With thee, in thy presence, in union and
communion with thee.—The well-spring, fountain-head, or source of life, a
sum ary expression for all enjoyments and advantages. The same idea is
then clothed in another figurative dress. In thy light we shall see light. It
is only by the light of God's countenance that man can see any good. It
is only in God's favour that he can be happy. The only bliss attainable
or desirable is that which is bestowed by God and resides in him. See
above, on Ps. iv. 7 (6).
11 (10). Continue thy mercy to those knowing thee, and thy righteousness
to the upright in heart. To his glowing description of the blessedness
resident in God and flowing from his favour, he now adds a prayer that it
may be extended to the class, of which he claims to be a member. The
first verb literally means to draw out or protract, and is the same that is
used in different applications in Ps. x. 9, xxviii. 3, above.—Those knowing
thee, and as a necessary consequence loving thee, since genuine knowledge
of the true God is inseparable from right affections towards him.—Thy
righteousness, thy true and faithful dealings with those trusting in thy mercy,
VER. 1.]
PSALM XXXVII.
159
here and often elsewhere represented as the upright or straightforward in
heart as well as in behaviour.
12 (11). Suffer not to come (upon) me foot of pride, and let not hand of
wicked ones expel me. What he had just asked for the upright in general,
he now asks for himself in particular, plainly implying that the view which
he had taken of human depravity in ver. 2-5 (1-4), was suggested by his
own sufferings, or fear of suffering, at the hand of wicked enemies.—The
verb in the first clause does not merely mean to come against, invade or
threaten, but to come upon, implying actual and violent assault. See
above, Ps. xxxv. 8. The mention of the foot suggests the ideas of spurning
trampling, and crushing; that of the hand the more general idea of exerted
strength or violence. The last verb is a causative, and strictly means to
put to flight; cause to wander, or send into exile. Compare its use in
2 Kings xxi. 8. The general idea of the verse is, do not give me up to the
power of my enemies.
13 (12). There are the doers of iniquity fallen; they are struck down and
cannot rise (or stand). The prayer is followed by a sudden assurance of
its being answered, in the strength of which the Psalmist speaks of his
desire as already accomplished. See above, on Ps. xx. 7 (6).—There has
very much the same sense as in common parlance, when uttered as a sudden
exclamation. There! they have fallen (already). Strictly explained, it
means on the very spot and in the very midst of their anticipated triumph.
See above, on Ps. xiv. 5, where the same use of the particle occurs, and
compare Ps. cxxxii. 17, and Judges v. 11, in all which places it is better
to retain the lo6a1 sense of there than to exchange it for the supposititious
one of then, which never occurs elsewhere.—Iniquity, vanity or falsehood,
in the sense explained above, on ver. 5 (4).—Struck, or smitten down, a
stronger phrase than cast down. See above, Ps. xxxv. 5.—The last words
may either mean, they cannot stand their ground, save themselves from
falling, or they cannot rise again when fallen. See above, Ps. i. 5, xviii.
39 (38), and compare Prov. xxiv. 16.
PSALM XXXVII.
THIS is an alphabetical psalm, and, like others of the same kind (see
above, on Ps. xxv.), consists of variations on the theme propounded in the
two first verses, namely, the idea, that the sinner is a self-destroyer, and
therefore not an object of envy or revenge to the righteous, who may safely
leave the punishment of his enemies, and the vindication of his own cause,
in the hands of God. The whole psalm seems to have reference to David's
own experience in the case of, Saul, Nabal, Absalom, Ahithophel, and
others. See especially 1 Sam. xxv. 39. The psalm, from its aphoristic
form, bears a very strong resemblance to the book of Proverbs, and may
have been the model on which it was constructed. The alphabetical
arrangement, as in other cases of the same kind, is not perfect. Most of
the letters have two verses each, but one has three, three have only one,
and the letter f is omitted.
1. Fret not thyself at evil-doers; be not envious at workers of iniquity.
The first Hebrew verb is a reflexive form, and strictly means to heat one's
self with anger. It occurs only here and in Prov. xxiv. 19, where there is
obvious allusion to this verse, as there is also in ver. 1 of the same chapter,
and in chap. iii. 31, xxiii. 17 of the same book.—Be not envious at, do not
160
PSALM XXXVII.
[VER. 2-5.
envy, the original verb being almost always construed with a preposition.
Evil-doers in the Hebrew is a participle, and literally means those making
evil, i. e. making their own conduct so. Workers, or more simply, doers
of iniquity. The last noun, according to its etymology, denotes perversion,
depravation, or depravity.
2. For like the grass (in) haste shall they be mown, and like the green
herb shall they fade (or wither). This verse assigns the reason of the
exhcrtation in the one before it. Why should we vex ourselves or indulge
an envious feeling towards that which is so soon to perish, and is therefore
rather an object of compassion? These two verses contain the theme, of
which the rest is a protracted variation.—In haste, soon, quickly. The
preposition is expressed before the same noun in Eccles. iv. 12, but suppressed as here, in many other places, e. g. Num. xvii. 11, (xvi. 46), Deut.
xi. 17.—The green herb, literally greenness of herbage, the second noun
denoting the young tender grass, or the first growth of other plants. See
above, on Ps. xxiii. 2. The verb at the end of the sentence is the same
with that in Ps. i. 3.
3. Trust in Jehovah and do good; inhabit the land and feed (on) truth.
The leading verb of each clause suggests the idea of security, the first
sometimes meaning to be safe (Prov. xi. 15), and the second to repose
(Deut. xxxiii. 20, Ps. lv. 7). Trust securely, dwell at ease or in safety.
To do good is not merely to perform acts of kindness and promote the
hap iness of others, but in a wider sense, to do what is morally good or
right. See above, on Ps. xxxvi. 4 (3). The land is the land of promise,
a secure abode in which is often used as a comprehensive expression for
all the covenanted blessings of the chosen people. See Prov. ii. 21, x. 30.
The verb feed, in Hebrew as in English, is used both transitively, and intransitively, to denote the act of the shepherd and his flock respectively.
Here it means to feed upon anything with delight, as in Hosea xii. 2 (1),
Isa. xliv. 20. The truth thus fed upon is God's truth and faithfulness in
the performance of his promise. See above, on Ps. xxxvi. 6 (5). This
last clause has the force, though not the form, of a promise, and is so
paraphrased in many versions. A less excusable departure from the form
of the original is the explanation of hnAUmx< as an adverb (verily), thus
depriving the verb of its object and the clause of its chief emphasis, which
lies in representing the veracity of God, or the certain fulfilment of his
promise, as the very food by which the believer is sustained and his hope
nourished.
4. And delight thyself in Jehovah, and he will give thee the requests of
thy heart. Here too the command implies a promise, which is afterwards
expressed. Delight thyself, seek and find thy happiness, in Jehovah, literally
upon him, the form of expression suggesting the idea of dependence and
reliance, as well as that of union and communion. Requests, not mere
desires, but askings, prayers. Compare Ps. xx. 6 (5), xxi. 3 (2).
5. Roll upon Jehovah thy way, and trust upon him, and he will do (it).
This last expression shews that the way is something to be done, and
accorldingly we find in Prov. xvi. 3, the explanatory variation, roll to (or on)
the Lord thy works, i. e. what thou hast to do but canst not do it, metaphorically represented as a burden too heavy for the person bearing it, and
therefore rolled upon the shoulders of another. See above, on Ps. xxii. 9 (8),
and below, on Ps. lv. 23 (22), and compare 1 Peter v. 7.—Trust upon him,
a phrase more suggestive of dependence than trust in him. See above, on
VER. 6-12.]
PSALM XXXVII.
161
ver. 4.—He will do what thou canst not do, or whatever must be done.
See above, on Ps. xxii. 32 (31).
6. And (will) bring out thy right like the light, and thy cause like the
noon. He will espouse thy cause, and make it triumph in the sight of all
men. The figure of light suggests the double idea of relief from suffering
and clear revelation after long concealment. Compare Job xi. 17, Isa.
lviii. 8, Mic. vii. 91—The Hebrew word for noon is of the dual form, and
properly denotes twofold or double light, i. e. the brightest, the most intense.
7. Be silent to Jehovah, await in silence what he is about to do, without
impatient clamour or presumptuous interference. Compare Exod. xiv. 13,
2 Chron. xx. 17. And wait for him, allow him time to act, instead of
attempting to act for him. Fret not thyself, as in ver. 1, heat not thyself
with anger, at (one) prospering his way, making his way prosperous, i.e.
succeeding in his course of life. See above, on Ps. i. 1, 3. At a man
doing, i. e. practising or executing, plans or plots, as the Hebrew word has
constantly a bad sense. Let no success or prosperity of sinners tempt thee
to anticipate God's righteous judgments.
8. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; fret not thyself only to do evil.
Do not indulge a passion which can only make thee a partaker in the guilt
of those who are its objects.
9. For evil-doers shall be cut off. This is a twofold reason for obeying
the injunction of the preceding verse: first, because the certain destruction
of the wicked made such anger unnecessary as well as uncharitable;
secondly, because the same destruction would befall the servant of the
Lord, if he indulged an anger tending only to evil. And (those) waiting for
Jehovah, patiently expecting the fulfilment of his promises and threatenings.
As for them, they, with emphasis on the pronoun, shall inherit the land, the
land of promise, the common formula for covenanted blessings. See above,
on ver. 3, and on Ps. xxv 13.
10. And yet a little, i. e. ere long, soon—bear and forbear a little longer
—and the wicked is not, or there is no wicked, there is no such person as
the wicked man who seemed so prosperous—and thou shalt gaze, or look
attentively, upon his place, the place which he now occupies, and it is not,
his very place has disappeared—or referring the pronoun to the person, he
is not, he is no more. Why then be discomposed, and even tempted into
sin, by the sight of what is so soon to vanish?
11. And the humble, or, as we should say in our idiom, but the humble,
on the other hand, on their part, as contrasted both with the presumptuous
sinner and the impatient querulous believer. The humble, here put for the
whole class of submissive waiters upon God. For the true meaning of
the Hebrew word, see above, on Ps. ix. 13 (12).—Shall inherit the land,
possess it by a filial right, be heirs to all the blessings of the covenant.
See above, on ver. 3, 9.—And delight themselves, enjoy themselves, be
happy, as in ver. 4, above.—In abundance, or increase, the infinitive of a
verb which means to be increased or multiplied, and which occurs above,
in Ps. iii. 2 (1).—Of peace, in the wide sense of prosperity, well-being, as
opposed to want and suffering, and not merely of repose or quiet, as opposed
to strife and perturbation.
12. Plotting, habitually meditating evil, (is the) wicked (man), as to (or
against) the righteous, and gnashing at him (or upon him) with his teeth,
gnashing his teeth at him, as a natural token of bestial malignity. This
is a kind of concession, that the wicked man deserves no forbearance on
162
PSALM XXXVII
[VER. 13-16.
the part of the righteous, who is not, however, therefore at liberty to anticipate God's judgments, for the reason given in the next verse.
13. The Lord, the sovereign of the universe, as well as the protector of
his people, laughs, or will laugh, at him, with derisive pity. See above,
on Ps. ii. 4.—For, because, he sees, he has already seen, as something
fixed and certain, that his day, his own appointed day of vengeance, or
more probably, the sinner's day of punishment, will come, is coming.
However long it may be put off, God knows that it will come at last, a
fearful intimation of the certainty of future retribution. Compare Eccles.
viii. 11, 2 Pet. iii. 4, Heb. x. 37.
14. The sword, put for all offensive weapons, and indeed for all destruclive agents. See above, on Ps. xxii. 21 (20).—They have opened, i. e.
loosened or uncovered, drawn.—The wicked, the whole class of evil-doers,
whose destruction he had just foretold.—And have trodden, i. e. bent by
treading on it. See above, on Ps. vii. 13 (12).—Their bow, often coupled
with the sword, both in prose, as being literally the other most familiar
implement of ancient warfare, and in poetry, as a parallel figure for destructive hostility.—To make fall, cast down, overthrow, the sufferer, the afflicted.
See above, on Ps. ix. 13 (12).—And the poor, the destitute or needy one,
a more specific term, often added to the generic one, which here precedes
it. In all such cases, it is implied that the sufferers are the suffering
righteous, the afflicted people of Jehovah.—To slay, or slaughter. The
original expression is a very strong one, being properly applied to the
slaughtering of cattle. See Exod. xxi. 37, xxii. 1, 1 Sam. xxv. 11. So
in English a sanguinary battle is described as a great slaughter.—The
straight, straightforward, upright, or sincere, (in) way, a common figure
for the course of life or the habitual conduct. See above, on Ps. i. 1.
The mention of this moral quality confirms the explanation just given of the suffering,
and needy, not as such considered, but as sufferers in the cause of truth and and
righteousness, as suffering for God and from the malice of his enemies.
15. Their sword, the sword of these malignant foes, shall go into their
heart, their own heart. They shall be destroyed by the very means which
they prepared for the destruction of their betters. This idea of a providential lex talionis is one repeatedly expressed under various figurative
forms. See above, Ps. vii. 16, 17 (15, 16), ix. 16, 17 (15, 16), and below,
Ps. lvii. 7 (6), and compare the imitation in Prov. xxvi. 27, and the historical example afforded by the case of Haman, Esther vii. 10.—And their bows,
the parallel expression, as in ver. 14, for their implements of warfare and
destruction, shall be broken, rendered useless. The substitution of the
plural for the singular, and of a single verb for the expected repetition of
the first clause, adds greatly to the force and beauty of the passage.
16. Good is a little to the righteous, which, in our idiom, means, better
is a little that the righteous has. This clause exemplifies two remarkable
deficiencies of the Hebrew language, the want of a distinct form for the
comparative degree, which can only be suggested by construction or the
context, and the want of the verb have, which is common to the whole
Semitic family of languages.—Than the noise, tumult, turmoil, which attends
the acquisition and the care of great possessions. That the Hebrew word
(Nvmh) denotes this incident of wealth rather than wealth itself, may be
inferred, not only from its etymology and its use in 1 Sam. iv. 14, xiv. 19,
1 Kings xviii. 41, &c., but from the analogy of Ps. xxxix. 7 (6), and Prov.
xv. 16.—Of many wicked, whose noisy and vexatious wealth is here con-
VER. 17-20.]
PSALM XXXVII.
163
trasted with the quiet enjoyment of one righteous man, not only with respect
to present ease of mind, but also to their future destiny, as stated in the
next verse.
17. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken. The ambiguity of our
word arms has othing corresponding to it in the Hebrew, where the only
possible sense is that of arms as members of the body. Not only their
weapons, but their arms, not only their implements of death, but the
strength with which they wielded them, is broken, weakened, rendered useless.—And, or, as our idiom requires an adversative in such connections,
but sustaining the righteous, their habitual supporter, (is) Jehovah, the
divine name being placed emphatically at the close, a feature copied in the
ancient versions, but obliterated in most modern ones.
18. Knowing, habitually, always knowing, (is) Jehovah, i. e. Jehovah
knows.—The days, the life, including both duration and events. Compare
Ps. xxxi. 16 (15).—Of perfect (men), those free from essential defect or
obliquity of character. See above, on Ps. xviii. 24 (23). The epithet is
evidently used as an equivalent to the righteous in ver. 17. God knows
their days, how long they are to live, and what is to befall them, with an
implication that he knows they will be numerous and good days. See
above, on Ps. i. 3. The same idea is then stated more distinctly in the
last clause. And their heritage, their portion, their condition, as God's
heirs, to eternity shall be, or shall continue. While this expression would
perhaps suggest to a contemporary reader nothing more than an undisturbed
possession, on the part of the righteous, as contrasted with the short-lived
prosperity of sinners, it necessarily conveys to our minds the idea of a literally everlasting, indefeasible inheritance. See 1 Pet. i. 4.
19. They shall not be ashamed, disappointed, or deceived in their expectations. See above, on Ps. vi. 11 (10), xxii. 6 (5).—In an evil time, or,
in a time of evil, i. e. of calamity or danger. See above, on Ps. ix. 10 (9),
x. 1. At such a time, their expectation of deliverance and safety shall not
be frustrated.—And in days of famine, a specification of the general description, evil time, time of evil, not unlike that of the general term, suffering
or afflicted, by the specific one, poor or needy, in ver 14 above.—They shall
be satisfied, or filled, but only in a good sense, without any implication of
satiety or surfeit. Compare Mat. v. 6, Luke vi. 21. The promise of this
clause is not only specific but positive, whereas that of the first is both
generic and negative. Compare Ps. xxxiii. 19.
20. This verse shews how the truth of the foregoing promises can be
consistent with the actual prosperity of wicked men. Do not doubt the
truth of these assurances because the wicked now seem happy, or because
they now prevent your being so, by their oppressions and hostilities. For
all this is soon to cease. The wicked shall perish, are to perish, and the
enemies of Jehovah, another description of the same class, shewing that
these judgments awaited them, not merely as the foes of the Psalmist, or of
righteous men in general, but of God himself. See above, on Ps. v. 5 (4).
—Like the precious (part) of lambs, i. e. the sacrificial fat, which was burnt
upon the altar, they have consumed; in smoke, or into smoke, they have consumed (or vanished). The preterite form of the verb represents the predicted consummation as already past in the perceptions of the writer. Some
understand by MyriB rqay;, the delight of lambs, i. e. their pasture, and suppose an allusion to the short-lived verdure of the fields, a common figure for
the brevity of human life, which occurs near the beginning of this very
164
PSALM XXXVII.
[VER. 21-24.
psalm (ver. 2). Others obtain the same sense by explaining MyriKA itself to
mean pastures, as it seems to do in Isa. xxx. 23, and perhaps in Ps. lxv.
14 (13). It is best, however, to retain the usual and certain sense of
lambs, whether the reference be to their pasture or their fat, which last is
recommended by the mention of smoke in the same connection. This may
indeed be an independent figure, but it is much more natural to connect it
with the lambs, and understand it to denote the smoke ascending from the
altar upon which they were consumed in sacrifice. In either case, however,
and on any exegetical hypothesis whatever, the essential meaning of the
figures is the same, to wit, that the prosperity of sinners is but short-lived,
and that they themselves will vanish speedily and wholly, and are therefore
in the mean time not a proper object of envious dissatisfaction or a legitimate occasion of sceptical misgiving to the righteous.
21. Borrowing, a habitual borrower, (is) the wicked, and he will not pay,
i. e. he cannot, because he is reduced to poverty, whereas the righteous,
under the divine blessing on his outward condition, is continually shewing
mercy, doing acts of kindness, and particularly giving, supplying the necessities of others. This description of the difference between the two conditions is derived from the promise in the Law to the true Israel. "For the
Lord thy God hath blessed thee as he said to thee, and thou shalt lend to
many nations and thou shalt not borrow, and thou shalt rule over many
nations, and over thee they shall not rule." Deut. xv. 6, xxviii. 12, 44.
Compare Prov. xxii. 7. This proverbial use of borrowing and lending as
a sign of poverty and wealth, shews that the verse before us does not relate
to willingness but to ability to lend or give. It is not the moral but the
material difference of the two men, or the classes which they represent,
that is here brought directly into view, although the one is really dependent
on the other, as appears from the next verse.
22. For his blessed ones, those blessed by him, i. e. by God, shall inherit
the land, in the same sense as before, and so be able not only to lend but
to give away, and, on the other hand, or but, his cursed ones, those cursed
by hina, shall not only be unable to do either and dependent on the charity
of others, but shall be cut off, destroyed, exterminated, with allusion no
doubt to the use of the same Hebrew verb in reference to excision from the
communion and the privileges of the chosen people. See Gen. xvii. 14,
Exod. xii. 15, Lev. vii. 20, 21; Num. xv. 30, &c., but especially Lev. xvii.
14, xi. 17, where the verb is absolutely used in this sense as in the case
before us. Thus understood, the verse assigns the blessing and the curse
of God as a reason for the difference of condition mentioned in the verse
preceding, whereas no such reason could be given for the difference of moral
character, and the for in that case would be either out of place or unmeaning.
23. From Jehovah, by him, or by a power proceeding from him, the steps
of a man, his course of life, all that befalls him, have been settled, fixed, or
ordered, and in his way, a parallel expression to his steps, will he delight,
i. e. he will delight to execute the plan thus formed. Although this is in
form a general proposition, it is obviously meant to be applied specifically
to the righteous as the objects of God's favour, and to account for their
superior prosperity, if not at present, yet hereafter.
24. For he will fall; in this life fluctuations and reverses are to be expected, and it forms no part of the divine plan to prevent them. (But) he
shall not be thrown down, prostrated wholly or for ever. The contrast of a
mere fall and a permanent prostration is intended to express that between
VER. 25-28.]
PSALM XXXVII.
165
occasional misfortunes and utter ruin. This clause may also be translated,
when (or if) he falls he shall not be thrown down; but the construction is
less simple, and the sense given to the particle more doubtful and unusual.
And although the essential meaning of the sentence is the same in either
case, it is weakened by losing the concession, that even the righteous must
expect to suffer, but not to perish like the wicked. For Jehovah (is) holding up his hand, or holding him up by his hand. See below, on Ps. lxxiii.
23. The participle, as usual, denotes continued action. God not only
sustains him in particular emergencies, but is his habitual upholder. See
above, on ver. 12, 18, 21.
25. A boy, a child, or more indefinitely, young have I been; I have also
been old, am now become old; and yet, throughout this long life, I have not
seen a righteous (man) forsaken (of God), i. e. finally and utterly, and his
seed, his children or his more remote descendants, begging bread, subsisting
on the charity of others. This is not to be absolutely understood, but as
a general proposition, and with due regard to the peculiar state of things
under the law of Moses, which made ample provision for the temporal comfort of every indiidual who acknowledged its authority and obeyed its
precepts, so that entire destitution might more justly be regarded as a token
of divine displeasure than it can be among us.
26. On the contrary, he has enough, not only for himself, but for his
poorer neighbours. All the day (long), i. e. continually, as a habitual
employment, (he is) skewing mercy, doing acts of kindness, and lending, as
an act of charity, not as a commercial operation, which was unknown among
the ancient Hebrews. See above, on Ps. xv. 5.—And his seed (is) for a
blessing, i. e. happy themselves and a source of happiness to others. The
form of expression seems to be borrowed from the promise to Abraham in Gen. xii. 2.
27. Depart from evil, and do good, and dwell for evermore. This is the
practical application of the foregoing lessons. Evil and good are correlative and coextensive terms. As evil includes all that is morally wrong,
good includes all that is morally right, and to do good is to do well or act
rightly. See above, on ver. 3.—Dwell, i. e. dwell securely, as in ver. 3,
where as here the exhortation or command involves a promise. For ever,
literally to eternity or perpetuity. As to the idea which these expressions
would convey to Jewish and to Christian readers, see above, on ver. 18.
28. For Jehovah (is) loving, he habitually loves, judgment, i. e. justice
actually exercised, he doing of justice. The for assigns a reason for the
strong assurance a the close of the preceding verse. No one need fear to
lay hold of the promise in its widest sense; for it is not an arbitrary one,
but a spontaneous expression of Goa's natural essential love of moral rectitude. And, as a necessary consequence of this, he will not forsake his
gracious ones, the objects of his grace or favour. For the true sense of
the Hebrew word, see above, on Ps. iv. 4 (3), xii. 2 (1), xviii. 26 (25),
xxx. 5 (4), xxxi. 24 (23.) Those whom he once favours he will not forsake.
For ever, to eternity, they are kept, kept safe, preserved. The past tense
of the verb is peculiarly appropriate to describe their preservation as already
secured. So certain is it, that he seems to look back upon the future as
already past, and says, they have been kept for ever. Here again, although
a Jewish reader might have been inclined to put a lower sense upon for ever,
as denoting nothing more than permanency in contrast with the fluctuations
of secular prosperity, it is neither right nor possible for us to give it any
but its strongest and its most extensive application. (See above, on ver. 18,
166
PSALM XXXVII.
[VER. 29-36.
and compare 1 Peter i. 5.—Equally certain is the fate of the ungodly:And the seed of
wicked men (is) cut off, has already been cut off, in the divine prescience and purpose,
from all participation in the blessings of the righteous. See above, on ver. 22.
29. The righteous shall inherit the land, possess the land of promise by
a filial right, and dwell, securely and in peace, for ever, to eternity, upon it.
See the same expressions used and explained above, on ver. 3, 9, 18, 22.
30. The mouth of the righteous will utter wisdom. Lest the foregoing
promises should be appropriated by the wicked, he lays down a test of
character by which the righteous man may be distinguished. He is one
whose mouth utters wisdom, in the high religious sense. For the meaning
of the verb, see above, on Ps. xxxv. 28.—And his tongue will speak judgment, i. e. justice, rectitude, here used as an equivalent to wisdom, both
denoting true religion, in its intellectual and moral aspects, with particular
reference to its effects upon the speech or conversation of its subjects.
31. The Law of his God is in his heart, not merely on his lips, and may
therefore be expected to keep him in the right way. His steps shall not
swerve from the straight path, or waver in it. See above, on Ps. xvii. 37 (36).
32. Watching, ever watching, (is) the wicked for the righteous, for means
and opportunities of injury, and seeking to kill him. The enemies of God,
as all the wicked are, must needs be the enemies of his people also.
33. Jehovah will not leave him in his hand, will not abandon the righteous
to the power of the wicked, and will not make him guilty, a forensic term of
the Mosaic Law, meaning to regard or treat as guilty, to condemn (Exod. xxii.
8, 9, Deut. xxv. 1), in his being judged, when he is tried. The image here
presented may be that of a judicial process between the righteous and the
wicked at the bar of God, who will not and cannot condemn the innocent.
34. Wait thou for Jehovah, for the manifestation of his presence and his
will, as in ver. 7 above. And keep his way, adhere to the path which he
has marked out for thee. And he will raise thee, lift thee up, exalt thee,
from thy present low condition to inherit the land, to enjoy the benefits
and blessings of his covenant. See above on ver. 8, 9, 11, 30. In the excision of the wicked, when the wicked are cut off from all connection with
God's people and participation in their privileges, thou shalt see (it). Or
as the verb to see, when construed with this preposition (b), often means
to see with pleasure, this clause may be translated, at the excision of the
wicked thou shalt gaze, as a pleased and wondering spectator.
35. I saw a wicked (man). The issue just predicted is now made the
subject of a picture, as if present to the senses. The Hebrew word which
follows (CyyifA) means terrible, especially from one's extraordinary strength
or power, with an implication sometimes of its violent exertion. I saw
(such) a wicked man, a terrible one, and spreading himself, like a native
(tree) i. e. one which has never been transplanted, green and flourishing.
The word translated native is always elsewhere used of human subjects,
but is here applied, by a bold personification, to a vigorous tree, rooted in
its native soil, and seemingly immoveable
36. And he passed (away), and lo! an expression always implying
something unexpected, he was not, he wasno more, there was no longer
such a person. See above, on ver. 10. And I sought him. I looked
round as if to see what was become of him, and he was not found, or as we
might say, to be found. This, verse may be referred to the tree, it passed
away, I looked for it, and it could not be found. But as the tree is only
VER. 37-40.]
PSALM XXXVII.
167
introduced in the preceding verse as a comparison, it is better to regard the
wicked man as the subject of both sentences.
37. Mark the perfect (man), observe him closely, and behold the upright,
or straightforward. He appeals to general experience and calls upon his
hearers or readers to judge for themselves. For an end, a future state,
and by implication a happy one, (is) to the man of peace, who instead of
undertaking to avenge himself, patiently waits for the divine interposition.
The common version (for the end of that man is peace) is forbidden not
only by the accents, but by the impossibility of making wyxil; mean of that
man, without a violation of all usage and analogy.
38. And the rebels against God, those who revolt from his authority, and
cast off their allegiance to their rightful sovereign, a common scriptural
description of the wicked, are destroyed together, or at once. See the use
of the same adverb in Ps. iv. 9 (8). This certain issue is referred to, as
already past or present. See above, on ver. 28. The end, futurity, or
hope, of the wicked is cut off. The futurity meant is one of happiness, as
in ver. 37, the true sense of which is thus determined. The contrast presented is, that one has an end or a futurity, the other none.
39. And the salvation of the righteous, far from being wrought out by
themselves, (is) from Jehovah, comes from him as its author and source.
See above, on Ps. iii. 9 (8). (He is) their strength, or stronghold, fortress,
place of refuge and defence, as in Ps. xxvii. 1, xxviii. 8, xxxi. 3, 5 (2, 4).
In time of trouble, or distress. See above, on Ps. ix. 10 (9), x. 1.
40. And Jehovah has helped them. It is not in name or in profession
merely that he is their stronghold and protector. Jehovah has helped them
and delivered them. And what he has done he will still do. He will deliver
them from the wicked. The mention of this specific evil brings us back to
the point from which we started, the temptation to repine at the prosperity
of sinners and resent their evil treatment. But the true wisdom of the
righteous is to wait, to wait for God. He will deliver them from the wicked,
and will save them from all evil, as this verb when absolutely used imports,
not because of any merit upon their part, but because they have trusted, taken
refuge, sought for shelter, in him, not only under his protection, but in
intimate union and Communion with him. See above, on Ps. ii. 12, v.
12 (11), vii. 2 (1), xxv. 20, xxxi. 2 (1).
PSALM XXXVIII.
A SUFFERER, in sore distress of mind and body, aggravated by the neglect
of friends and the spite of wicked enemies, acknowledges all to be the fruit
of his own sins, and prays that the effect may cease by the removal of the
cause.
The psalm contains three distinct complaints, or descriptions of his suffering, separated by two appeals to God, with a prayer at the beginning
and the end of the whole Psalm. After the title, ver. 1, comes the first
prayer, ver. 2 (1); then the first complaint, ver. 3-9 (2-8); then an appeal
to the divine omniscience, ver. 10 (9); then the second complaint, ver.
11-15 (10-14); then an expression of hope and confidence in God, ver.
16 (15); then the third complaint, ver. 17-21 (16-20); and then the
closing prayer, ver. 22, 23 (21, 22).
1. A Psalm. By David. To remind, or bring to remembrance, i. e.
168
PSALM XXXVIII.
[VER. 1-6.
to remind God of the sufferer, whom he seems to have forgotten, with allusion no
doubt to the frequent use of the same verb in reference to penitent self-recollection
on the part of sinners. See 1 Kings xvii. 18, Ezek. xxi. 29 (24), xxix. 16, Num. v. 15.
2 (1). Jehovah, do not, in thy wrath, rebuke me, and in thy heat (or hot
displeasure) chasten me. The force of the negative extends to both clauses.
Rebuke, not in word merely, but in deed, corresponding to chasten, chastise,
punish, in the other clause. He does not pray, as some suppose, for moderate punishment, or for loving as opposed to angry chastisement, but for
deliverance from any punishment whatever, which is always indicative of
God's displeasure. See above, on Ps. vi. 2 (1).
3 (2). For thine arrows are sunk into me, and thy hand has sunk upon me.
This verse assigns the reason of the prayer in that before it. Arrows, sharp
inflictions, as in Deut. xxxii. 23, Job vi. 4. The verbs of the two clauses
are active and passive forms from the same root. Sunk into, penetrated,
and by implication, stuck fast, although this specific idea is not expressed.
Sunk upon, heavily descended, or, as the English version has it, presseth
me sore. Compare Ps. xxxii. 4, xxxix. 11 (10).
4 (3). There is no sound place in my flesh because of thine anger; there is
no peace in my bones because of my sin. Here begins a more particular description of the sufferings indicated by the general terms of the preceding
verse. The first thing mentioned is his bodily suffering, as a token of God's
wrath and an effect of his own sin, by which that wrath had been provoked.
Flesh and bones are put for the whole bodily frame. The word translated
sound place is a local noun, as indicated by its form, and not an abstract
(soundness). It occurs only in this passage and in Isaiah's imitation of it
(Isa. i. 6). There, as here, the body is represented as one bruise, in which
there is no sound place, i. e. no spot free from pain or soreness.—Because of,
literally from the face of, from the presence of, from before, the phrase being
primarily used to denote fear or flight before an enemy. Peace may be
taken in the wide sense of well-being, good condition, health (see above, on
Ps. xxxvii. 11); but it more probably denotes peace in the strict sense, i. e.
rest or freedom from the disquietude produced by pair.
5 (4). For my iniquities are gone over my head ; as a heavy burden, they
are too heavy for me. This is an amplification of the last words of the
verse preceding. "I say my sin, because the sense of my iniquities has now
become intolerable." Gone over, literally passed, i. e. surpassed, exceeded,
or transcended. Too heavy for me, or heavier than I, i. e. heavier than I
can bear. The reference is not merely to the effects of sin, but to the sense
of sin itself, the consciousness of guilt, which he now associates with all his
sufferings. As the preterite of the first clause represents the overwhelming
sense of guilt as something experienced already, so the future of the second
speaks of its excessive weight as something likely to continue.
6 (5). My stripes have putrefied and are corrupted because of my foolishness. The first noun does not denote wounds in general, but the swelling
produced by stripes. Compare Isa. i. 6. The two verbs both denote suppuration, the first in reference to the offensive smell, the second to the
running or discharge of matter. This may be literally understood as denoting a particular form of bodily distress; but it seems more natural to explain
it as a figurative representation of extreme suffering, not unmingled with
disgrace. All this he refers to his own foolishness or folly, in the strong
sense of criminal blindness and irrationality. See above, on Ps. xiv. 1.
7 (6). I have writhed, I have bowed down greatly; all the day mourning I
VER. 7-10.]
PSALM XXXVIII.
169
have gone. The first word is a passive, meaning strictly to be twisted or
distorted, elsewhere metaphorically applied to moral obliquity or perverseness (Prov. xii. 8, 1 Sam. xx. 30), but here used in its proper sense to
signify the distortion of the body by extreme pain, as in Isa. xxi. 3. The
bowing or bending down may be from the same cause, or as a customary
sign of grief. Indeed, the two ideas of sorrow and bodily pain run into each
other throughout this passage. The word translated mourning properly
means black, or more specifically, black with dirt, begrimmed, or squalid, in
allusion to the ancient oriental custom of sitting in the dust and putting
ashes on the head, as signs of mourning. See above, on Ps. xxxv. 14.
Greatly. The Hebrew phrase means until very much, or unto extremity.
dxom; is originally a noun meaning strength, but except in the formula, with
all thy strength, is generally used as an adverb answering to very, greatly,
or exceedingly, in English. I have gone. The Hebrew, verb is an intensive
form, nearly equivalent to gone about in English. For a still stronger intensive from the same root, see above, on Ps.. xxvi. 3, xxxv. 14, in the last of which
places we have also the words here translated bowed down and mourning.
8 (7). For my loins are filled with parching, and there is no sound place
in my flesh. The loins, instead of being covered with fat (Job xv. 27), are
filled with dryness, literally (something) parched or dried up with extreme
heat. To a Hebrew reader this word would necessarily suggest the additional idea of despised, contemptible, which the same form often conveys
elsewhere (e. g. Sam. xviii. 23, Prov. xii. 9, Isa. iii. 5). Indeed, it may
be doubted whether this is not the only sense intended here, as that of
parched is always expressed elsewhere by a different participial form (Lev.
ii. 14, Josh. v. 1 ). On either supposition, the meaning given in the English
version (a loathsome disease) is implied, if not expressed. The repetition
in the last clause from ver. 4 (3) above brings him back to the point from
which he starte .
9 (8). I am benumbed and bruised exceedingly: I have roared from the
murmur of my heart. Benumbed, especially from cold, chilled, frozen,
torpid. Bruised or broken. The same verb is used to express contrition
or brokenness of heart in Ps. li. 18 (17) below; but here it has its proper
sense, and is descriptive of a bodily condition. See above, on Ps. x. 10.—
Exceedingly, the same phrase as in ver. 7 (6) above. In the last clause
two words are employed, both denoting animal sounds, and nearly corresponding to our roar and growl. In Isa. v. 29, both verbs are, applied to
the lion, and both translated roar in the English Bible. For the use of
such figures, see above, on Ps. xxii. 2 (1). The idea here is that his audible complaints
are not expressions of mere bodily distress, but of mental and spiritual anguish.
The roaring of his voice is but an echo of the murmur in his heart.
10 (9). Lord before thee (is) all my desire, and my sighing (or groaning)
from thee is not hid. This is at once an asseveration that his account of
his own sufferings was not exaggerated or fictitious, and a reason why it
need not be continued. "Thou kowest, O Lord, what I ask and what I
need, the depth of my necessities and the intensity of my desires."
11 (10). My heart pants (or palpitates); my strength has left (or failed)
me; and the light of my eyes—even they are not with me. Here begins his
second complaint or compassionate description of his sufferings, in which
those arising from the conduct of others are made prominent. In this
introductory verse, however, he describes the effect upon his own feelings,
170
PSALM XXXVIII.
[VER. 11, 12,
before proceeding to declare the cause. The palpitation of the heart,
denoting violent agitation, is combined with loss of strength and,that dimness of the eyes, so often mentioned as a sign of extreme weakness. See
above, on Ps. xiii. 4 (3), and compare Ps. vi. 8 (7), xxxi. 10 (9), xl. 13 (12).
The last clause admits of two grammatical constructions. 1. "My strength
has failed me, and (so has) the light of my eyes; even they are not with
me." 2. "(As to) the light of my eyes, even they are not with me." The
first agrees best with our idiom, and the last with the masoretic interpunction, which separates the light of my eyes from the preceding verb and noun
by a pause accent.—Even they, literally, they too.—"Not only is my
strength gone, but my eye-sight likewise, but my very eyes."—Not with me,
not in my possession, not at my command, gone from me. For a similar expression, see
above, on Ps. xii. 5 (4).—The preterites in the first clause represent the palpitation and
debility as something of long standing, or at least as fully experienced already.
12 (11). My lovers and my friends away from my stroke will stand, and
my neighbours afar off have stood. He now gives expression to the anguish
caused by human unkindness, and first, by that of such as he believed to
be his friends. These are represented as standing aloof, literally from
before, i. e. out of sight, as in Gen. xxi. 16, and Isa. i. 16, not over against,
as im flying opposition or hostility. What he here complains of is indifference and neglect, as appears from the parallel expression, far off, literally
from afar, according to a common Hebrew idiom which expresses the position of an object in terms strictly denoting in motion or direction. See for
example Gen. ii. 8, where eastward is in Hebrew from, the east, and the
familiar phrase from the right or left hand, where we say at or on it. This
usage renders it unnecessary, although not inadmissible, in the case before
us, to supply a word, "they stand (looking) from afar." The word translated neighhours means those near one, either in local habitation or affinity,
and may therefore be considered as including the idea expressed in the
English Version, kinsmen. Unless the variation of the tenses in this sentence is entirely unmeaning, which is highly improbable, both in itself and
from analogy, the last clause may be understood to state as an actual reality,
what is only apprehended in the first as probable or certain but still future.
As if he had said, "My friends will no doubt stand aloof from this affliction;
nay, they are already afar off."—Stroke is here put for a providential or
divine infliction in general, not for sickness exclusively, much less for a
particular disease, such as the leprosy, which Jerome actually introduces
into his translation. See below, on Ps. xxxix. 11 (10), and compare Job
xix. 21, Isa. liii. 4. Some suppose that there is an allusion to this verse
in the statement made by one of the evangelists, that the women who had
followed Christ from Galilee, and all his acquaintances, stood afar off, gazing
at his crucifixion. See Luke xxiii. 49, and compare Mark xv. 40, 41.
13 12). And those seeking my soul (or life) have laid wait (or laid
snare) for me, and those seeking my hurt have spoken mischiefs, and deceits
all the day will they utter (or devise). While his friends and neighbours
stand aloof, his enemies are busy in attempting to destroy him. Seeking
my life, as in Ps. xxxv. 4, and Exod. iv. 19. This phrase is particularly
frequent in the history of David's persecutions. See 1 Sam. xx. 1. xxii. 23,
xxiii. 15, 2 Sam. iv. 8, xvi. 11. The idea of seeking is expressed by two
entirely different verbs in Hebrew. With the first clause compare Ps.
xxxvii. 32.—Mischiefs, or still more strongly, crimes. See above, on Ps.
v. 10 (9). The reference may be either to malicious consultation, or to
VER. 13-17.]
PSALM XXXVIII.
171
slander, or to both. The last verb may be taken in either of its senses
(see above, on Ps i. 2, ii. 1, xxxvii. 30), both which are appropriate in
this connection. All the day (long), continually. See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 26.
14 (13). And I, as a deaf (man), will not hear, and as a dumb (man)
will not open his mouth. This is at the same time an aggravation of his
sufferings and a declaration of his patience under them. He is obliged to
hear their calumnies and blasphemies as though he heard them not, being
neither able to silence them nor willing to dispute them. The same two
Hebrew words for deaf and dumb are used together in Exod. iv. 11. Not
only the idea, but the form of expression in this sentence, is copied by
Isaiah in his prophetical description of Christ's sufferings (Isa. liii. 7), and
seems to have been present to our Saviour's own mind when he "held his
peace" before the High Priest (Mat. xxvi. 62, 63), and "gave no answer"
to the Roman Governor (John xix. 9).
15 (14). And I was as a man who does not hear, and there are not in his
mouth replies (or arguments). The same thing is repeated, to make still
more prominent the patience and forbearance of the sufferer. Does not
hear, literally (is) not hearing. In our idiom the last clause would have
been, in whose mouth there are no replies. The meaning reproofs is a
secondary one, derived from that of proofs or arguments. See Job xiii. 6,
xxiii. 4.—The idea in both verses is, that he endured the evil speaking of
his enemies, as one who had nothing to say for himself or in reply to their
reproaches. This, while it mortified his pride, and thereby added to his
pain, was at the sake time an evidence of faith and patience, and thus
prepares the way for the profession in the next verse.
16 (15). Because for thee I waited; thou wilt answer, Lord, my God!
His silence and forbearance, though a part of his sore trial, did not spring
from weakness, but, from faith in God, and submission to his precept.
(See above, Ps. xxxvii. 7.) "I retorted not their calumnies and taunts,
because I waited for thee to vindicate my cause, and so thou wilt, thou
wilt certainly answer." The last verb does not mean shalt answer for me,
as the Prayer-Book version has it, but as in other cases, hear or answer my
petition for relief and vindication, whether silent or expressed. See above,
on Ps. v. 2 (1), and compare Ps. iii. 5 (4), iv. 2 (1), xiii. 4 (3), xvii. 6,
xviii. 42 (41), xx. 10 (9), xxii. 3 (2), xxvii. 7, xxxiv. 5 (4).—Lord, not
Jehovah, but Adhonai, the divine name which properly means Lord or
Sovereign. See above, Ps. ii. 4, xxii. 31 (30), xxxv. 17, 22, 23, xxxvii. 13.
—My God, and as such bound by covenant to hear me.
17 (16). For I said, Lest they rejoice respecting me; in the slipping of
my foot they have (already) magnified (themselves) against me. His tranquillity did not arise from insensibility to danger, but from confidence in
God. He was not without fear that his enemies might triumph over him,
as they were already disposed to do, when he merely stumbled, but did
not actually fall.
18 (17). Because I for limping (am) ready, and my grief is before me
always. This verse assigns a reason for the triumph of his enemies, to
wit, that he was really in danger. Ready to halt or limp, i. e. constantly
liable to some interruption of his even prosperous course. See above, on
Ps. xxxv. 15. The form of expression does not exclude the idea of his
actually halting, but rather suggests it. As if he had said, "The slightest
occasion makes me halt or limp." Grief or sorrow seems to be put here
for that which causes it. I am always in full view of my worst distress.
172
PSALM XXXVIII.
[VER. 18-22.
19 (18). For my iniquity I will declare, I will be anxious on account of
my sin. In our idiom this is tantamount to saying, I must confess that I
am guilty; I have reason to be anxious on account of my sin.
20 (19). And my deadly enemies are strong, and multiplied are those
hating me falsely (or without a cause). Instead of deadly some find the
opposite idea, lively, here expressed. My enemies (are) living (or alive),
they are strong. Or, my living enemies are strong. But Myy.iHa is the coinmon Hebrew word for life, and as rqw yxnW means my enemies of falsehood, MyyH ybyx may mean my enemies of life, those who hate my life and
would deprive me of it. Compare wpnb ybyx in Ps. xvii. 9 above.—
Hating me falsely. Compare Ps. xxxv. 19, lxix. 5 (4).
21 (20). And (those) repaying evil for good—they will oppose me for
pursuing good. The first clause seems to belong to the preceding sentence,
and to complete the description of his enemies, "those hating me without
cause, and repaying evil for good." Compare Ps. xxxv. 12-16. Oppose
me, be my enemies. The Hebrew verb is the root of the name Satan, the
enemy or adversary of God and man. From its etymology, the verb would
seem to denote specifically treacherous hostility.—The preposition in the
last clause properly means under, then instead of, and more rarely in return
for, which is the sense here. In return for my pursuing good, i. e. earnestly and eagerly endeavouring to be good and to do right. This was of
itself sufficient to provoke their enmity.
22 (21). Leave me not (O) Jehovah! (O) my God, be not far from
me! Having twice described his urgent need, he now resumes the tone of
complaint with which the psalm began. The petition in this verse is one
of frequent occurrence in the Psalms. See above, Ps. x. 1, xiii. 2 (1),
xxii. 2 (1), xxxv. 22. The most striking parallel, however, is Ps. xxii.
20 (19).
23 (22). Hasten to help me, (O) Lord, my salvation! The literal
meaning of the first clause is hasten to (or for) my help. The same words
form the last clause of Ps. xxii. 20 (19). My salvation, my deliverer, my
saviour. This form of address bears a strong resemblance to the prayer in
Ps. xxxv. 3: Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.
PSALM XXXIX.
THIS psalm consists of two parts, in the first of which the Psalmist
describes his feelings and his conduct at a former period, in relation to
God's providential dealings, ver. 2-7 (1-6), while in the second he
expresses what he now feels and believes in reference to the same subject,
closing with an earnest appeal to the divine compassion, ver. 8-14 (7-13).
If this view of the structure of the psalm is just, the first part ought not
to be quoted as an expression of pious feeling, but as an acknowledgment
of sin and error. Some interpreters have gone so far as to affirm this of
the whole psalm; but there seems to be an obvious change of tone and
spirit in ver. 8 (7). There is no impropriety or danger in admitting that
the Psalms contain expressions of unhallowed feeling, if the admission be
restricted to those cases where the fact is indicated in the psalm itself, and
not left to the discretion or caprice of the interpreter.
1. For the Chief Musician. For Jeduthun (or Jedithun). A psalm.
By David. The masoretic punctuation requires the first name to be read
VER. 1-3.]
PSALM XXXIX.
173
Jeduthun, while the text itself presents the form Jedithun. The same
diversity appears in Ps. lxxvii. 1, 1 Chron. xvi. 38, Neh. xi. 17. The first
form stands alone in 1 Chron. xvi. 41, 42, xxv. 1, 3, 2 Chron. v. 12. In
all these places, it is the name of one of David's chief musicians or levitical
singers, whose descendants held the same employment, as appears from
Neh. xi. 17. The personal name is here added to the official title, perhaps
for the purpose of doing honour to the individual, by connecting his name
with this inspired composition, as in modern dedications and inscriptions.
2 (1). I said, I will keep my way, from sinning with my tongue; I will
keep for my mouth a muzzle, while the wicked (is) before me. Here begins
the account of his former experience, but without any intimation of the
time which had elapsed before he wrote. The two states of mind here
described may have followed one another in immediate succession. I said
to myself, implying a resolution, although this is not the meaning of the
verb itself, as some allege. The idea of a fixed determination is moreover
suggested by the form of the next verb, which is that of the paragogic
future. I will keep, guard, preserve. Take heed to, although not incorrect, is an inadequate expression, of the meaning. My ways, my course
of conduct, my habitual behaviour. See above, on Ps. i. 1. From
sinning, so as not to sin, that I may not sin, a form in which this idea is
frequently expressed in Hebrew. The word translated muzzle occurs only
here, but its verbal root is used in Deut. xxv. 4, thou shalt not muzzle the
ox when he treadeth out the corn, and in Ezek. xxxix.11, where it evidently
means to stop, either the nose or the way. The noun therefore must mean
a stopper or a muzzle rather than a curb or bridle, by which some explain
it. While the wicked is before me, or more literally, in the wicked's (being)
still before me. If this referred merely to his personal presence, the verse
would contain a resolution to avoid unguarded speeches in his company or
hearing. But this is not the sin to which the Psalmist afterwards pleads guilty, and the
true sense of the clause appears to be, while the prosperity of wicked men is still
before my eyes, instead of vanishing at once as I expected. See above, Ps. xxxvii. 10,
36. —For my mouth, i. e. in reserve for it, or to my mouth, i. e. in actual contact with it.
3 (2). I was silenced (with) dumbness; I held my peace from good, and my
sorrow was stirred. The first clause is highly idiomatic, but the sense is
clear, to wit, that he enjoined the strictest silence on himself, in reference
to the providential mysteries which excited his envious discontent. The
silence meant is abstinence from murmurs and repining against God. The
second clause is obscure. From good is understood by some to mean from
every thing, because that idea is elsewhere expressed by the idiomatic combination, good or evil. See Gen. xxxi. 24, 29, 2 Sam. xiii. 22. But the
antithesis in all such cases is essential, and the omission of one term destroys the meaning. Others give from a negative or privative sense, away
from good, without good, i. e. without any good effect. But the simplest
construction is the one given in the English Bible, even from good, or more
fully in the Prayer-Book version, yea, even from good words. The meaning
then is, that in his anxiety to avoid the language of complaint against God,
lie was silent altogether, and suppressed even what he might have said
without sin, or was in duty bound to say. The natural effect was that his
inward grief, instead of being soothed, was roused, excited, and exasperated.
4 (3). Hot was my heart within me; while I muse the fire is kindling;
(then) spake I with mg tongue. His compulsory silence only rendered more
intense the feelings which it was intended to conceal. The less he said the
174
PSALM XXXIX.
[VER. 4-6.
more he thought and felt, until at last it burst forth with more violence
than if expressed at first. My heart glowed, or was hot, with angry discontent and envious repining. Within me, literally in my inner part, or inside,
an emphatic phrase referring to the studied absence of all outward indications. Without, all seethed calm and cool; within, his heart was in a glow
on fire. While I muse, literally in my meditation. See above, on Ps.
v. 2 (1). The future verb in this clause marks a transition. The fire will
bnrn, or is about to burn, is kindling. The gradation is completed by the
laconic phrase, I spake. "I did what I had fully resolved not to do." The
reference to ver. 2 is made more obvious by the additional words, with my
tongue, which would else be unmeaning and superfluous. "That very
tongue, with which I had determined not to sin, I nevertheless spake with,
inn unadvised and unbecoming manner."
5 (4). Make me to know, (O) Jehovah, my end, and the measure of my
days, what it is; let me know when I shall cease. According to the view
already taken of the first part of the psalm, this is not a prayer to be made
duly sensible of the brevity of life, which would have been superfluous, but
an impatient wish to know how soon its sufferings are to cease. The same
sentiment is amplified in Job vi. 8-12, vii. 7, xiv. 13, xvi. 21, 22. The
last clause may also be translated, let me know how ceasing, i. e. frail or shortlived, I (am). But the general drift of the passage favours the construction, let me know (at) what (point), or (at) what (time) I (am) ceasing, or
about to cease. The indefinite pronoun (hmA has then the same sense as
in the compound phrase (hm-df) until what (point), until when, how long? The
verbal adjective (ldH), as in other cases, is only a less usual participial form.
6 (5). Lo (by) spans, or (as) hand-breadths, hast thou given my days, and
my life (is) as nothing before me. Only all vanity is every man constituted.
Selah. The idea of the first clause is, that God had dealt out life to him
in the scantiest measure. Hence the verb given must be taken in its proper
sense, and not in that of placed or made, which it sometimes has. See
above, on Ps. viii. 2 (1), xxxiii. 7. The lo or behold, at the beginning, is
expressive of surprise, not unmixed with indignation. As if he had said,
"See how short a space thou hast allotted me."—The word rendered
life is not the common one, but that employed in Ps. xvii. 14, and here
used in its primary sense of duration or continued existence. As nothing,
or more strictly, non-existence, nonentity. See above, on Ps. xiv. 1. "My
duration is so short that I seem scarcely to exist at all." Before thee, not
merely in thy estimation, but by thine authority or sovereign constitution.
"I only appear in thy presence long enough to disappear." Only all
vanity, consisting or composed of nothing else. The word translated vanity
means primarily breath, but is transferred, by a natural figure, to anything
impalpable and evanescent. The whole phrase means a mere breath. Every
man, or taking the Hebrew noun as a collective, all mankind. The participle at the end means fixed, established, constituted, ordained, and
describes the brevity of life as something not fortuitous but comprehended
in the divine purpose. The melancholy nature of the fact alleged, and perhaps the reasonableness of the complaint founded on it, are indicated by a
meditative pause.
7 (6). Only in an image does a man walk; only (for) a breath do they
make a noise; he hoards up and he knows not who will gather them. So
short and transient is man's life, that what he does, and what befalls him,
VER. 7, 8.]
PSALM XXXIX.
175
seems to be not so much a reality as a show, a picture, a phantasma, an
ideal scene, in which he walks about, as one of the imaginary actors. For
a breath, i. e. the time spent in a single respiration, an instant, a moment.
Or as a breath, i. e. something intangible and momentary. Or as vanity,
vainly, in vain, without use or effect. This last agrees best with the previous use of lb,H,, and its frequent usage elsewhere, in the sense of vanity.
What is said in the first clause of the individual is said in the second of
the species, as indicated by the plural verb. The noise referred to is the
bustling clamorous activity with which men seek for pleasure and especially
for wealth. Hence the derivative noun, which properly means noise, has
frequently the secondary sense of wealth. See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 16.
Disquieted is too weak, as denoting passive uneasiness rather than tumultuous exertion. In the last clause the plural is again exchanged for the
singular, a clear proof that they both relate to the same subject. The first
verb in this clause is applied elsewhere to the heaping up of earth (Hab.
i. 10), the storing away of corn (Gen. xli. 35), and the hoarding of treasures (Job xxvii. 16), which is its sense here. Who will gather them, i. e.
the hoarded treasure, not accumulate them, which is done already, but
take them to himself, enjoy, or use them. The future verbs describe this
as a process which may be expected to continue, and perhaps to last for ever.
8 (7). And now what have I waited for? Lord, my hope is in thee.
The conclusion, to which the previous complaints seemed to tend, was that
he would wait no longer, but abandon the hope of divine favour in despair.
But this result did not ensue, and he asks, as if in wonder at his own inconsistency, how it is that he has waited after all, or still waits, for the
good which seemed, a little while ago, so desperate. The answer is given
in the other clause. His hope was, from the first, in God, and although
sorely tried, was not extinct. At this point it revives, and recovers its ascendancy, and from this point he takes a new and more believing view of
those very inequalities and riddles, which before so severely exercised his
faith. This may, therefore, be regarded as the turning-point of the whole
psalm, the transition from a worse to a better state of feeling. And now
may be strictly understood, in opposition to past time and to a previous state
of mind. At the same time, it serves as a term of logical resumption and
connection, as in Ps. 10. Now, i. e. since this is the case. In thee,
literally to (or as to) thee, the Hebrew particle denoting relation in the
widest sense; the particular relation is suggested by the context. See
above, on Ps. xxx. 2 (1). The divine name, Adhonai, Lord, seems to belong more naturally to the second clause, although the masoretic interpunction joins it with the first. And now, what wait I for, O Lord? The
emphatic pronoun at the end of the sentence cannot well be imitated in
translation. (As for) my hope, in thee (is) it.
9 (8). From all my transgressions free me; the reproach of the fool do not
make me. The first clause contains an implicit acknowledgment that his
error was a sinful one. Transgressions, treasons, or apostasies, committed
against God. The Hebrew word is much stronger than its English equivalent. In asking to be freed from his transgressions, he asks to be delivered
from their consequences, one of which is then particularly mentioned. A
reproach, an object of derision and contempt. See above, on Ps. xxii. 7
(6). The fool, by way of eminence, the impious unbeliever. See above,
on Ps. xiv. 1. Do not make me, literally place (or put) me, i. e. set me up,
exhibit, or expose me, as a mark for their invective or their ridicule.
176
PSALM XXXIX.
[VER. 9-12.
10 (9). I am silenced, I will not open my mouth, because thou hast done
(it). This is far from being a reiteration of the sttement in ver. 3 (2)
above. The common version of the second verb (I opened not) is altogether arbitrary, and even the first, although a preterite, does not mean I
was dumb, i. e. at some former time, but I have been silenced or am dumb,
at present. There is obvious allusion to the similar expressions of ver. 3 (2),
but rather in the way of contrast than of repetition. As before he was
kept silent by an obstinate suppression of the rebellious feelings which he
really experienced, so now he is kept silent by a filial submission to his
father's chastisements. I will not open my mouth, to murmur or give
utterance to undutiful complaints. Thou hast done the very thing at which
I was tempted to repine. See above, on Ps. xxii. 32 (31). The pronoun
is emphatic: (it is) thou (who) hast done (it), and no other. See above, on
Ps. xxx. 7 (6), xxxiii. 9.
11 (10). Remove from upon me thy stroke; from the strife of thy hand I
have wasted away (or consumed). The silence vowed in the preceding
verse had reference merely to repining and undutiful complaint, not to
prayer, which he immediately subjoins. Remove, or retaining the form of
the original, cause to remove, make to depart, take away, withdraw, not
merely from me, but from upon me, implying previous pressure. Thy
stroke, thy chastisement, thy punishment. See above, on Ps. xxxviii. 12
(11). The same thing is intended by the strife of thy hand, the judgments
of God being sometimes represented as a controversy or contention between
him and the afflicted person. See Isa. lxvi. 16, Ezek. xxxviii. 22. The last verb is not
a passive but a neuter, as in Ps. xxxviii. 20. Here again. the pronoun is emphatic. I, even
I, and not merely men in general, know this by experience.
12 (11). With rebukes for iniquity thou dost chasten man, and waste like
the moth what he desires. Only vanity is every man (or all mankind).
Selah. He here presents his new and more correct view of God's providential strokes which he has now learned to regard as the punishment of
sin. The emphasis of the sentence rests upon the first clause. It is not
with cruel and vindictive strokes, it is not with random and unmeaning
blows, but with penal visitations, with rebukes (or chastisements) for sin,
that thou dost chasten man. The past tense of the verb implies that what
he suffers is but one link in a long chain of consistent uniform experiences.
He is looking not at what has happened once or for the first time, but at
something which has always been so. It is God's accustomed mode of
dealing with his sinful creatures. The deduction of meanings in tHkroT,
is first argument, then conviction, then condemnation, then punishment.
See above, on Ps. xxxviii. 15 (14).—Waste, literally cause to melt away.
The same verb is used above, Ps. vi. 7 (6), and below, Ps. cxlvii. 18.—Like
the moth, not as the moth decays, but as the moth consumes. See Job iv.
19, xiii. 28.—What he desires, literally his desired or desirable, whatever he
delights in. Beauty is too specific and confined a sense. The last clause,
with the selah at the close, announces that the Psalmist has come back to
the point from which he started, but, as we have seen, with an extraordinary change of views and feelings.
13 (12). Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, and to my cry (for help) give ear;
to my weeping be not silent, for a stranger (am) I with thee, a sojourner like
all my fathers. The word translated weeping properly means tear, but is
always used collectively for tears. Be not silent, as an expression of indifference or hostility, not to be moved even by the sight of tears. A stranger,
VER. 13.]
PSALM XXXIX.
177
and by implication homeless and friendless, wholly dependent on thy hospitable bounty. To a Hebrew, familiar with the law of Moses, which continually joins the stranger with the widow and the orphan, as legitimate
objects of compassionate regard, this description must have been peculiarly
affecting. With thee, under thy roof, at thy fireside, or in Scripture phrase,
within thy gates, (Ex. xx. 10), i. e. at thy mercy, and dependent on thee.
The parallel term (bwAOT) means one who has no land of his own, but is
settled upon that of another, as a tenant, a vassal, or a beneficiary. The
same description is applied by Abraham to himself (Gen. xxiii. 4), by Moses
to all Israel, considered as the feudal subjects and dependents of Jehovah
(Lev. xxv. 23), and by David to himself and his contemporaries (1 Chron.
xxix. 15), on a different occasion from the one before us, and in a different
connection, thus affording a striking incidental confirmation of the truth of
the inscription which makes him the author of the psalm. See above, on
ver. 1. In both cases, the expression like our fathers shews the relation
which the words describe to be not merely personal but national. Another
interesting parallel is 1 Kings xix. 4, where Elijah, in a state of feeling not
unlike the one recorded in the first part of this psalm, "requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my
life, for I am not better than my fathers."
14 (13). Look away from me, and let me cheer up before I go (hence), and
am no more. Both Hebrew words are causatives, and seem to govern face
understood. "Cause thy face, thy angry countenance, to look away from
me, and let me cheer up or exhilarate my own face." The last clause in
Hebrew is exceedingly laconic; the literal translation is, before I go and
am not. It has been justly represented as remarkable, that all the words
and phrases of this verse occur in different places of the book of Job. How
long wilt thou not look away from me? (Job vii. 19). Look away from him
and let him cease (Job xiv. 6). Are not my days few? Cease then and
let me alone, that I may cheer up a little before I go (hence) and return no
more (Job. x. 20, 21). Thine eyes are upon me, and I am not . . . thou.
shalt seek me in the morning and I am not, or I shall not be (Job vii. 8,
21). These repeated coincidences, not in common but comparatively rare
expressions, together with the analogies already mentioned in the explanation of ver. 6 (5) above, seem to shew, not only that the writer of that
book was acquainted with the psalm before us, but that the germ or seminal
idea of the book itself is really included in this psalm. We have seen
already that the thirty-seventh psalm sustains a similar relation to the Book
of Proverbs. See above, p. 159. Thus the Psalter, and especially the
Psalms of David, furnished themes and models to the inspired writers of a
later date, while at the same time they abound themselves with allusions to
the Pentateuch and imitations of it. This was the more natural, and even
unavoidable, because the books of Moses and the Psalms were especially
familiar to all pious Jews from their incessant use in public worship. That
the Book of Job is not, in this case, the original, is clear from the number
and dispersion of the passages in which this one psalm is alluded to or copied.
PSALM XL.
THE Psalmist celebrates delivering grace, already experienced by himself
and others, ver. 2-6 (1-5). He declares his resolution to attest his grati-
178
PSALM XL.
[VER. 1-4.
tude, by deed as well as word, ver. 7-14 (6-13). He prays that God will
grant him new occasion of thanksgiving, by delivering him from present
troubles, ver. 15-18 (14-17). This psalm, like the sixteenth, twentysecond, and some others, seems to be so constructed that it may be applied
generically to the whole class of pious sufferers, but specifically to its head
and representative, the Messiah.
The reappearance of the last part of this psalm in the seventieth will he
considered in the exposition of the latter.
1. For the Chief Musician. By David. A Psalm. This title, with a
slight transposition, is the same with that of Ps. xiii. xix. xx. xxi. xxxi. It
shews that the psalm was not, as might have been supposed from its contents,
a mere expression of personal feeling, but designed for permanent and public use.
2 (1). I waited, waited for Jehovah, and he bowed (or inclined) unto me,
and heard my cry. The psalm opens with the narrative of what the writer,
or ideal speaker, had himself experienced. The emphatic repetition of the
verb implies patient perseverance, and is perhaps exclusive of all other
means. "I simply waited; I did nothing but wait." Bowed himself, or
the heavens, as in Ps. xviii. 10 (9), or his ear, as in Ps. xvii. 6, xxxi. 3 (2),
most probably the last. The image then presented is that of one leaning
forward to catch a faint or distant sound. My cry for help. See above,
on Ps. v. 3 (2), xviii. 7 (6), xxxix. 13 (12).
3 (2). And brought me up from a pit of noise, and from the miry clay,
and made my feet stand on a rock; he fixed my steps. The first verb in
Hebrew is a causative, he caused me to ascend. The noise referred to seems
to be that of water in a deep place. Miry clay, literally clay of mire, in
which there can be no firm foothold, as there is upon the rock, with which
it is contrasted. Fixed, established, rendered firm.
4 (3). And put in my mouth a new song, praise to our God; many shall
see and shall fear, and shall trust in Jehovah. In this, as in ver. 3 (2), the
construction is continued from the foregoing sentence. Put, literally gave,
gave (to me) in my mouth. See above, on Ps. iv. 8 (7). A new song,
implying a new subject or occasion. See above, on Ps. xxxiii. 3. By the
new song, we are not to understand this psalm exclusively, but fresh praise,
of which this psalm is an instance or particular expression. Our God, the
God of Israel, a further proof that this is not an expression of mere personal
feeling, but a permanent formula of public praise. The effect of it, anticipated in the last clause, is the same as in Ps. xxii. 26-32 (25-31). The
original exhibits a paronomasia, which is lost in the translation, arising from
the close resemblance of the verbs see and fear (Uxr;yi and UxrAyyi). The fear
meant is that religious awe or reverence, which always accompanies true
faith or trust in God.
5 (4). Happy the man who has made Jehovah his trust, and has not looked
to proud (men) and (those) swerving to falsehood. From his own experience
he draws a general conclusion, as to the safety and prosperity of those who
trust in God. The first phrase is properly an exclamation, Oh the happinesses of the man, as in Ps. i. 1, ii. 12, xxxii. 1,2, xxxiii. 12. The next
words in Hebrew have properly a local sense. Who has set Jehovah (as) his
place of security, the form of the noun being one which has commonly a
local meaning. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 1. The verb translated looked
means strictly turned round towards an object for the purpose of looking at
it. It may here imply confidence or trust, as cognate verbs do in Isaiah
xvii. 7, 8. Or it may convey the additional idea of taking sides, espousing
VER. 5, 6.]
PSALM XL.
179
the cause, joining the party, of those swerving, turning aside, apostatising,
from the way of truth and duty, or from God himself. See above, on Ps.
xiv. 3, xviii. 22 (21).
6 (5). Many (things) hast thou done, Jehovah, my God; thy wonders and
thy thoughts to us it is not (possible) to state unto thee; I would declare and
speak (them; but) they are too many to be numbered. This is not the only
instance of the kind, but one of a great multitude. Many things, i. e. many
such things. My God, as well as our God, i. e. in personal covenant with
me, as well as in national covenant with Israel. See above, on ver. 3 (2).
The combination of the two divine names suggests that Jehovah was not
the God of Israel only, but the Supreme God. The word translated wonders
is properly a passive participle, meaning (things) made wonderful or wonderfully done, and therefore constantly used absolutely as a noun in the sense
of wondrous deeds or wonderful works. See above, Ps. ix. 2 (1), xxvi. 7.
Thoughts, purposes, and in this connection, purposes of mercy. To us,
towards us, respecting us, and for our benefit. The next words may also,
mean, there is no resemblance (or comparison) to thee, i. e. none to be compared with thee. See below, Ps. lxxxix. 7 (6), and compare Isa. xl. 18,
Job xxviii. 17, 19. This use of the Hebrew word is founded on its primary
sense of arranging, putting in order, with particular reference to the arrangement of the offerings and other sacred objects under the Mosaic law. Then
it was used to signify the act of putting things together, side by side, and
so comparing them. See above, on Ps. v. 4 (3), where it is figuratively
applied to the presentation of a prayer, and compare its similar use in Isa.
xliv. 7, Job xxxvii. 19, xxxii. 14, in the last of which places we have the
phrase to order or present words. As this is a more frequent sense than
that of resembling or comparing, and in this case agrees better with the
Words immediately hefore and after, it is safer to retain it. I would declare,
literally I will declare, the form of the verb being that of the paragogic
future, which expresses in the first person strong resolution. This is more
expressive than the hypothetical proposition, "I would declare them, if I
did not know it to be impossible." The idea conveyed by the original
expression is that of an actual attempt and failure. As if he had said:
"Yes, I will declare and tell thy wondrous works; but no, they are too
many to be numbered or recounted." For the meaning of the last verb,
see above, on Ps. ii. 7, ix. 2, 15 (1, 14), xix. 2 (1), xxii. 18, 23 (17, 22), xxvi. 7.
7 (6). Sacrifice and offering thou has not desired; my ears thou hast
pierced. Burnt-offering and sin-offering thou hast not asked. Here begins
his account of the way in which his gratitude should be expressed. This
is first negatively stated—not by mere oblations or other ceremonial rites.
To express this idea he combines four technical expressions of the Law.
The first two are the usual descriptions of animal and vegetable offerings.
The first means anything slaughtered for a sacrificial purpose. The second
means originally any gift, but is appropriated, in the Law, to those secondary
offerings of corn, oil, wine, and incense, which accompanied the animal
oblations. In the English version of the Pentateuch, it is rendered meatoffering, a version which no longer conveys the correct meaning to the common reader, since these were precisely the offerings from which meat, in the
modern sense of flesh, was entirely excluded. In this case, however, the
Hebrew word is joined with that before it to describe the two great kinds of
offering, animal and vegetable. The parallel terms in the last clause are
those denoting the general expiatory sacrifice statedly offered, and the spe-
180
PSALM XL.
[VER. 7.
cial sacrifice in reference to particular offences. The last words of the first
clause are exceedingly obscure. The Hebrew verb elsewhere means to dig,
and is so used in Ps. vii. 16 (15) above. It may be naturally used, however, to denote the act of piercing, perforating. Some suppose it to mean
opening the ear or causing one to hear, and understand the whole phrase
as meaning, "thou hast told me so, or hast revealed it to me." This is
favoured by the use of cognate phrases to express the same idea, such as
opening, uncovering, awakening, the ear, &c. See Isa. 1. 4, 5; 1 Sam.
ix. 15, xx. 2, 12; xxii. 8. It is more probable, however, that the strong
expression here used was intended to suggest the additional idea of obeying
or rendering obedient, which is often expressed even by the simple verb to
hear. The peculiar figurative form in which the thought is clothed may be
accounted for, by supposing an allusion to the ceremony of boring a slave's
ear with an awl, as a symbol of perpetual obedience. See Exod. xxi. 6.
The whole verse may then be paraphrased as follows:—"Thou hast not
required ceremonial services, but obedience, and hast pierced my ear, as a
sign that I will hear thee and obey thee for ever." The Septuagint version
of this clause (a body hast thou prepared me) is retained in the New Testament as an unimportant variation, i. e. in reference to the writer's purpose
in making the quotation, and perhaps as suggesting that the incarnation of
the Son was a prerequisite to his obedience. The contrast intended is
between ceremonial rites in themselves considered, and the obedience, of which they
only formed a part, and from which they could not be severed without rendering them
worthless. There is obvious allusion to 1 Sam. xv. 22, not only here but in the parallel
passages, Ps. li. 18, 19 (16, 17), Hos. vi. 6, Isa. i. 12, Jer. vii. 22-24.
8 (7). Then I said, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of
me. The first word refers not so much to time as to other circumstances.
Then, in these circumstances, this being the case. Seeing and knowing
that mere ceremonial services are worthless, I come, I bring myself, all that
I have and am, as a rational or spiritual service. (Rom. xii. 1.) The
volume of the book, or the roll of scripture. The second noun is the one used
in Hebrew to denote the written revelation of God's will, and the first to
describe the form of an ancient oriental book, not unlike that of a modern
map, and still retained in the manuscripts used in the synagogue worship.
The reference is here to the Law of Moses. Written of me is by some referred
to prophecy, by others to the requisitions of the law. The literal meaning
of the Hebrew words is written upon me, i. e. prescribed to me, the upon
suggesting the idea of an incumbent obligation. "Enjoined upon me by a
written precept." This is clearly the meaning of the same phrase in
2 Kings xxii. 13. Thus understood, the clause before us may be paraphrased as follows:—"Since the ceremonies of the Law are worthless, when
divorced from habitual obedience, instead of offering mere sacrifice I offer
Myself, to do whatever is prescribed to me in the written revelation of thy
will." This is the spirit of every true believer, and is therefore perfectly
appropriate to the whole class to whom this psalm relates, and for whom it
was intended. It is peculiarly significant, however, when applied to Christ:
first, because he alone possessed this spirit in perfection; secondly, because
he sustained a peculiar relation to the rites, and more especially the sacrifices, of the Law. David, or any other individual believer under the old
economy, was bound to bring himself as an oblation, in completion or in
lieu of his external gifts; but such self-devotion was peculiarly important
upon Christ's part, as the real sacrifice, of which those rites were only
VER. 8-10.]
PSALM XL.
181
figures. The failure of any individual to render this essential offering
insured his own destruction. But if Christ had failed to do the same, all
his followers must have perished. It is not, therefore, an accommodation
of the passage to a subject altogether different, but an exposition of it in its
highest application, that is given in Heb. x. 5-10. The limitation of the
words to Christ, as an exclusive Messianic prophecy, has the twofold inconvenience of forbidding its use by the large class of godly sufferers, for whom
it seems so admirably suited, and of requiring us to understand even the
confession of sins as uttered in his person. See below, on ver. 13 (12).
9 (8). To do thy will, my God, I have delighted (or desired) and thy law
(is) in the midst of my bowels. The self-devotion, just professed, is now
described as a cordial and spontaneous act, because the law requiring it is
not regarded as a mere external rule, but as existing in the heart and coinciding with the This, which is true, in measure, of all genuine obedience, is pre-eminently true of that obedience unto death, by which Christ
magnified the law and honoured it, proved his own zeal for God and
deference to his will, and wrought out that salvation which alone can render
similar obedience upon man's part possible. With the last clause compare Ps.
xxxvii. 31, Deut. xx. 14, Prov. iii. 3, vii. 3, Isa. li. 7. This verse, together
with the one before it, on which it is a kind of comment, holds up to view
the sincere obedience of the true believer, including the observance of commanded rites, in contrast with the formal hypocritical observance of the rites
alone, and at the same time the perfect obedience and self-sacrifice of Christ
in contrast with the types by which they were prefigured.
10 (9). I have proclaimed righteousness in a great assembly. Lo, my lips
I will not restrain; Jehovah, thou knowest (or hast known). The first verb
is the nearest Hebrew equivalent to the Greek eu]aggeli<zomai, to announce
good news, to proclaim glad tidings. The righteousness meant is that of
God. The great congregation or assembly is his church or people. Restrain, i. e. from still proclaiming it. The past tense, in the first clause,
shews this to be, not a mere engagement or a promise, but a statement of
what has been already done. The future following completes the statement,
by providing also for the time to come. The return to the preterite in the
last clause appeals to God's omniscience for the truth of what was first
alleged, as well as of the promise just recorded. "Thou hast already been
a witness of my zeal in the annunciation of thy righteousness, and art a witness, at this
moment, of the sincerity with which I vow that it shall be continued."
11 (10). Thy righteousness I have not hid in the midst of my heart; thy
faithfulness and thy salvation I have uttered; I have not concealed thy
mercy and thy truth from the great congregation (or assembly). The same
idea is again expressed, but with a pointed allusion to the last clause of
ver. 9 (8), as if to guard against a misconstruction of its language. In
opposition to a mere external formal service, he had there said that the
Law of God was in his heart. But now he hastens, as it were, to add that
it was not confined there. He was not contented with his own impressions
of God's righteousness, derived both from his word and from his providence. He considered himself bound to make it known to the whole body
of God's people, for the twofold purpose of comforting and edifying them,
and of promoting the divine glory. The expression of the same thing,
both in negative and positive form, is a natural method of enforcing what
is said, which is common to all languages, although particularly frequent
in the Hebrew.
182
PSALM XL.
[VER. 11-16.
12 (11). Thou, Jehovah, wilt not withhold thy compassions from me;
thy mercy and thy truth will always preserve me. This is not a prayer, as
it seems to be in the common version, but an expression of strong confidence, like that in Ps. xxiii. 6. As if he had said, "I am sure that thou
wilt not withhold," &c. Here, again, there is an obvious allusion to a previous expression. As he had said in ver. 10 (9), my lips I will not restrain,
so now he says, and thou, O Lord (on thy part), wilt not restrain thy mercies from me. The phrase supplied, on thy part, is really included in the
pronoun thou, which, being unnecessary to the sense, must be emphatic.
See above, on Ps. ii. 6. Thy compassion, tender mercies, warm affections.
See above, on Ps. xxv. 6, and compare Ps. xviii. 2 (1). Truth means the
veracity of God's engagements, as in the preceding verse, where it is joined
with faithfulness, fidelity. Preserve me from distresses, dangers, enemies.
See above, Ps. xii. 8 (7), xxxi. 24 (23), xxxii. 7.
13 (12.) For upon me have gathered evils till there is no number; my
sins have overtaken me, and I am not able to see; they are more than the
hairs of my head, and my heart has failed me. The original expression in the
first clause, to surround upon, is a strong one, to denote an accumulation
of evils from all quarters. This is intended to account for the necessity of
protection and deliverance, implied in the last clause of the verse preceding. It introduces the prayer for relief from present troubles, founded on
previous experience of God's mercy, and forming the conclusion of the psalm.
Sins, not punishments, although the experience here described is that of
their effects. Overtaken, reached after long delay and hope of escape. See
Deut. xxviii. 15. The common version, cannot look up, gives a meaning
which the Hebrew phrase never has elsewhere. It always denotes dimness
or failure of sight, arising from distress, weakness, or old age. See 1 Sam.
iii. 2, iv. 15, 1 Kings xiv. 4, and compare Ps. vi. 8 (7), xiii. 4 (3), xxxi.
10 (9), xxxviii. 11 (10). More than the hairs of my head. See below,
Ps. lxix. 5 (4). My heart has failed me, literally left me. See above, on
Ps. xxxviii. 11 (10), where the same thing is said of his strength. This
picture of complicated sufferings, produced by his own sins, is inapplicable
to the Saviour, who neither in prophecy nor history ever calls the sins for
which he suffered my sins.
14 (13). Be pleased, (O) Jehovah, to deliver me; (O) Jehovah, to my help
make haste! The first clause contains an implied acknowledgment of dependence on
God's mercy. In the second, the form of expression is the same as in Ps. xxii. 20 (19).
15 (14). Ashamed and confounded together shall be (those) seeking my soul
to destroy it; turned back and disgraced shall be (those) desiring (or delighting in) my hurt. Strictly speaking, this is not so much the expression of
a wish as of a confident expectation. See above, on ver. 12 (11). But
its intimate connection with the foregoing prayer seems to give it the force
of an optative. The wish implied is precisely the same as in Ps. xxxv. 4, 26.
16 (15). They shall be desolate on account of their shame—those saying
to me, Aha, aha! The common version, for a reward of their shame, seems
to make their shame the crime for which they were to be punished. The
Hebrew word (bq,fe) sometimes means wages or reward, as the consequence
of labour. See Ps. xix. 12 (11), Prov. xxii. 4. But the general meaning
of the phrase, in consequence, is admissible, and quite sufficient here. For
the meaning of the last clause, see above, on Ps. xxxv. 21, 25.
17 (16). They shall rejoice and be glad in thee—all (those) seeking thee.
They shall say always, Great be Jehovah—(those) loving thy salvation. The
VER. 1.]
PSALM XL
183
structure of the classes is alike, each beginning with the action, and ending
with a description of the agent. The joy and praise are represented as the
fruit of the deliverence here prayed for. In thee, in communion with thee,
in the enjoyment of thy favour. Seeking thee, seeking that communion
and that favour. Great is Jehovah, or the Lord be magnified, i. e. recognised as great and glorious. Loving thy salvation, not merely desiring it
for themselves, but rejoicing in it as bestowed on others. See above, Ps.
xxxv. 27, and compare xxii. 24 (23), lxix. 33 (32).
18 (17) And I (am) afflicted and poor, and the Lord will think of me
(or for me). My help and my deliverer (art) thou. O my God, do not
delay. The connection is the same as in Ps. ii. 6, above. "And (yet) I
am a sufferer, and poor; and (yet) the Lord will think," &c. The Hebrew
phrase (yl bwHy) may either mean, will think respecting (or concerning) me,
i. e. remember me, attend to me—or will think for me, i. e. plan, provide,
for me. My help art thou, and therefore canst not fail to help me; my
deliverer, and there fore must deliver me. See above, on Ps. iii. 4 (3).
The same thing is implied in the address, my God. See above, on ver.
4, 6 (3, 5). Do not tarry, linger, or delay to grant this prayer.
PSALM XLI.
1. To the Chief Musician. A Psalm, by David. This psalm, though
intended, like all he rest, for permanent and public use, exhibits very
strong marks of thy personal experience of the author. He first states a
general rule of the divine dispensations, namely, that the merciful shall
obtain mercy, ver. 2-4 (1-3). He then claims the benefit of this law in
his own case, which is described as one of great suffering from sickness and
the spite of wicked enemies, ver. 5-10 (4-9). He concludes with an earnest prayer to God for succour, and expresses a strong confidence that he
shall receive it, ver 11-14 (10-13).
The juxtaposition of this psalm with that before it is not fortuitous, but
founded on their common resemblance to the thirty-fifth, and on their mutual
resemblance as generic descriptions of the sufferings of the righteous, with
specific reference to those of the Messiah, as the head and representative
of the whole class. In this, as in the fortieth psalm, the exclusive reference to Christ is forbidden, by its obvious adaptation to a whole class, and
by the explicit confession of sin in ver. 6 (5).
2 (1). Happy (the man) acting wisely towards the poor (man); in the day
of evil Jehovah will deliver him. The form of expression at the beginning
is the same as in Ps i. 1, xl. 5 (4). As the first verb sometimes has the
sense of attending or attentively considering, some understand it to mean
here considering (or attending to) the poor. But its proper import of acting prudently (or wisely) is entirely appropriate, and therefore entitled to
the preference. See above, on Ps. ii. 10, xiv. 2. What is meant by acting wisely towards the poor, may be gathered from the parallel passage, Ps.
xxxv. 13, 14. The principle assumed is that expressed by our Saviour in
Mat. v. 7. See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 28. The poor, in the wide sense of
the English word, corresponding very nearly to that of the Hebrew lDa,
which means poor in flesh (Gen. xli. 19), and poor in strength (2 Sam.
iii. 1), as well as poor in point of property and social standing (Exod.
xxiii. 3). It here includes all forms of want and suffering, and might be
translated wretched. This is not a mere reflection on the unkindness of his
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PSALM XLI.
[VER. 2-6.
own acquaintances, but an indirect assertion of his own benevolence.
"Happy the man acting wisely towards the poor—as I have done. In the
day of evil, of his own misfortune, when his own turn comes to suffer, the
Lord will deliver him—as I desire and expect to be delivered."
3 (2.) Jehovah will keep him and save him alive; he shall be prospered in
the land; and do not thou give him up to the will of his enemies. What he
has done for others the Lord will do for him. Save him alive: the same
verb occurs above in Ps. xxii. 30 (29). Prospered: the Hebrew verb
(rwxy) orignally means led straight, or in a straight path. See above, on
Ps. xxiii. 3. But here it has the same sense as in Prov. iii. 18. The marginal reading in the Hebrew Bible (rwxv) only differs from the text by introducing the conjunction and. In the land, i. e. the land of promise.
See above, on Ps. xxv. 13, xxxvii. 3, 9, 11, 22 29, 34. These are generally propositions, but are evidently meant to be applied specifically to himself. His solicitude respecting the event is betrayed by his sudden transition from prediction to petition. Give him up to the will, literally into the soul, here put
for the desire or appetite. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 12, and compare Ps. xvii. 9.
4 (3.) Jehovah will support him on the couch of languor; all his bed
hast thou turned in his sickness. The images are borrowed from the usages
of real life. The first is that of holding a sufferer up, sustaining him, in
pain and weakness; the other that of changing, making, or adjusting his
bed. The parallelism favours this interpretation of the second clause much
more than that which makes it mean "thou has converted all his sickness
into health." The words translated couch and languor are unusual equivalents to bed and sickness in the other clause.
5 (4). I have said, Jehovah, have mercy upon me; heal my soul, for I have
sinned against thee. The pronoun at the beginning is emphatic. He is
here applying to himself the doctrine which he had before laid down in general
terms. "Knowing this to be the rule of the divine administration, I myself have claimed the benefit of it; I myself have said," &c. There is no
need of diluting the past tense into a present. The use of the preterite implies that it is not an act yet to be performed, but one that has been done
already. The same emphasis, though not required by the form of the
original, may be supposed to rest upon the me and the my. The prayer for
the healing of his soul may be considered as including that for the removal
of his bodily disease, which seems to be referred to in this psalm as a mere
(consequence of inward agony. And this is itself referred to sin as its occasion in the last clause of the verse. The intimate connection between sin
,and suffering is continually recognised by David. See above, Ps. xxxi.
111 (10), xxxii. 5, xxxviii. 4, 5, 19 (3, 4, 18), xl. 13 (12). Against thee,
literally to thee, as to thee. The idea of direct opposition is suggested by
the context. See above, on Ps. xxx. 2 (1), xxxv. 19, 24, xxxviii. 17 (16).
6 (5.) My enemies will say evil to (or as to) me: when shall he die and
his name perish? The word translated evil is constantly applied to moral
evil, and here means spite or malice. The ambiguous phrase to me seems
to include the two ideas of speaking of him and in his hearing, or as we say in
familiar English, talking at him. See above, on Ps. iii. 3 (2), xi. 1. The question in the
second clause implies impatience. With the last phrase compare Ps. ix. 7 (6).
7 (6.) And if he come to see me, falsehood he will speak; (in) his heart
he is gathering mischief; he will go out, to the street (or out of doors) he will
speak (or tell it). The subject of the sentence is his enemy viewed as an
VER. 7, 8.]
PSALM XLI.
185
ideal person. Compare the alternation of the singular and plural forms in
ver. 6 (5) and 12 (11). If he come, literally has come, at any former time;
or still better, if he has come now, if he is now here, the scene being then
described as actually present to the writer's senses, which adds greatly to
its graphic vividness and beauty. To see, not merely to see me, in the usual
sense of visiting, which is rather an English than a Hebrew idiom, but
to see for himself, to observe, to play the spy, to watch the progress of the
malady, and judge how soon a fatal termination may be looked for. Falsehood, vanity, in the strong scriptural sense of emptiness, hypocrisy, false
professions (in this case) of sympathy and friendly interest. He will speak:
I am sure that he will do so; I know him too well to doubt it for a moment.
The idea thus suggested by the future is entirely lost by exchanging it for
the present, which it really includes, but something in addition. The construction, his heart gathereth, is at variance witch the Masoretic accents, and
does not yield so good a sense as that which makes his heart an adverbial
phrase, a Hebrew idiom of perpetual occurence. In our idiom it will then
mean in (or as to) his heart, as opposed to the outward appearance of benevolence and friendship. The second future (Cbqy) may be either construed
like the first, he (certainly) will gather, (I know that) he will gather; or
understood to signify an action which has been begun but is not finished,
he is gathering. To gather mischief is, in this connection, to collect materials for calumnious reports. He will go out, he will speak, or as we should
say in English, when he goes out he will speak. The Hebrew verb itself
(xcy) means to go out. The additional phrase means strictly to the street,
or to the outside of the house. It might be grammatically construed with
the verb before it, he will go out to the street. But the accents connect it with the
verb that follows, to the street he will tell (it), or to the outside, i. e. to those without,
who are perhaps to be conceived of, as impatiently awaiting his report.
8 (7). Together against me they will whisper all (those) hating me; against
me they will meditate—injury to me. The collocation in the first clause is
like that in Ps. x1.15-17, (14-16), the action being first described, and then
the actors. The future has the same force as in the first clause of ver.
6, 7 (5, 6). They will certainly persist in doing as they now do. The
substitution of the present in translation conveys only half of this idea. The
last word in Hebrew (yli) is omitted in most versions, though expressed in
the margin of the English Bible. It defines the evil meditated, not as
evil in the abstract or in general, but as evil to the sufferer, i. e. injury,
which is the usual meaning of the Hebrew word (hfArA), a modified form
of (fra), the one used in ver. 6 (5) to denote moral evil: The last words are
a kind of after-thought. —Against me they will meditate or plot, is a complete proposition in itself, which is then made more explicit by mentioning the object of their plots, namely, evil (or injury) to me. This form of
the sentence may have been adopted to render the resemblance in the
structure of the clauses more complete.
9 (8). A word of Belial is poured into him, and he who lies (there) shall
arise no more. These are the words of his malignant visitors, either
uttered in his presence, or to their companions after leaving him. The
literal translation of the first clause is given, to shew its obscurity, and
enable the reader to understand the different explanations of it which have
been proposed. Some give word its not unfrequent idiomatic sense of
thing, affair (1 Sam. x. 2, 2 Sam. xi. 18, 19, Ps. cv. 27), and Belial that
186
PSALM XLI.
[VER. 9.
a ruin or destruction, which they suppose it to have in Nah. i. 11, and
Ps. xviii. 5 (4) above. But there, as elsewhere, it is better to retain its
primary meaning, good for nothing, worthless, or as an abstract, worthlessness, a strong though negative expression for depravity. The whole phrase
will then mean a wicked matter, a depraved affair. By this again some
understand the disease with which he was afflicted, and which is then
described as the result of his own wickedness; others the plan or plot
devised by the speakers for the ruin of the sufferer. But this would hardly
be described by themselves as a depraved affair. None of these explanations seem so natural or so exact, as that which gives to both words their
customary meaning, and understands by a word of Belial a disgraceful
charge or infamous reproach, which is then represented as the cause of his
distress and his approaching death. The next phrase may either mean
poured into his mind or soul, as a moral poison, producing agony and
death; or poured upon him, so as to submerge or overwhelm him. In
Job xli. 15, 16 (23, 24), the same participle (qUcyA) seems to be thrice used
in the sense of poured out, melted, soldered, firmly fastened. So here the
English Bible renders it cleaveth fast unto him, and the same meaning is
assumed by some who understand by the preceding words a wicked plot or
a destructive visitation, which is then described as cleaving fast to him so
that he cannot shake it off or otherwise escape from it. The common version of the next words, now that he lieth, is extremely forced. The only
natural construction of the relative is that which refers it to the sufferer
himself. He who has lain down shall not add to rise, the common Hebrew
method of expressing a continued or repeated action. See above, on Ps.
x. 18. The expression becomes still more graphic if we understand it to
mean he who is lying (here before you), or he who lies there, i. e. in yonder
house or chamber.
10 (9). Even the man of my peace—whom I confided in—eating my
bread—has lifted against me the heel. The first word properly means also.
Not only foes, but also friends; not only strangers, but likeivise they of my
own household. The man of my peace, or my man of peace, is a strong
idiomatic expression for the man with whom I was at peace. As to the
construction, see above, on Ps. ii. 6. Eating my bread, not merely as a
guest, but as a dependent. Such must have been the current usage of the
phrase in David's time. See 2 Sam. ix. 11, 13, xix. 29 (28), and compare
1 Kings xviii. 19. Lifted, literally magnified or made great. See above,
on Ps. xxxv. 26, xxxviii. 17 (16). The act described seems to be one of
contemptuous violence, but probably with an implicit allusion to supplanting as an act of treachery. Our Lord applies this verse expressly to himself and Judas (John xiii. 18), which shews that he was really included in
the class to which the psalm relates. It is remarkable, however, that he
only quotes the second of the three descriptive phrases, eating my bread,
enjoying my society and subsisting on my bounty, while he omits the other
two, because these would have represented Judas as his friend, and one in
whom he trusted. But he knew from the beginning who it was that should
betray him (John vi. 64). This accurate distinction seems to confirm the
assumption that the psalm has a generic meaning, and is only applicable
to our Saviour as the most illustrious representative of the class which it
describes. The allusion to Judas would be still more striking if, as some
suppose, the phrase man of my peace had reference to the customary use
of the word peace in salutation. He who was wont to wish me peace or to
VER. 10-12.]
PSALM XLI.
187
say, Peace be with thee. Compare Mat. xxvi. 49. But this, although
ingenious, is by no means an obvious or natural interpretation.
11 (10). And thou, Jehovah, have mercy upon me, and cause me to arise,
and I will repay them. The connection between this verse and the one
before it can be fully expressed in English only by a but at the beginning
of the sentence. The pronoun is emphatic, thou, on thy part, as distinguished from these spiteful enemies. He here resumes the prayer begun
in ver. 5 (4), and interrupted by the description of the malice of his enemies.
Make me to rise, help me up from this bed of weakness and suffering, with
obvious allusion to their having said that he would never rise again, ver. 9
(8). "O Lord, do what they pronounce impossible." The last words of
this verse seem at first sight inconsistent with the Christian doctrine of
forgiveness, as laid down in Mat. v. 39, 40, Rom. xii. 19. (Compare
1 Pet. ii. 23.) But as this is also an Old Testament doctrine (see Prov.
xx. 22), as David himself recognised the principle, Ps. vii. 5 (4), and acted
on it, as appears from 2 Sam. xix. 24 (23), the disagreement can be only
an apparent one. It may be partially removed by observing that the
speaker here is neither Christ nor David in his proper person, but an ideal
character, representing the whole class of righteous sufferers, so that what is
here said really amounts to little more than a prediction that the malignant
persecutors of this class shall be requited. In the next place, let it be
observed that it is not said how he will repay them, whether by punishment or by heaping coals of fire upon their heads, according to Solomon's
and Paul's directions. (Prov. xxv. 21, 22, Rom. xii. 20, 21.) Lastly,
the rule laid down by Christ himself admits of righteous retribution, not
only on the part of magistrates and rulers, but of private persons, where
the means employed are lawful in themselves, and where their use is
prompted, not by selfish pride or a revengeful malice, but by a desire to
prevent a greater evil, to assert God's honour, and even to benefit the
offender himself.
12 (11). By this have I known that thou hast delighted in me, because
any enemy is not to triumph over me. This implies a previous divine assurance that his enemy should not so triumph. For a similar intimation, see
above, Ps. xx. 7 (6). The certainty thus afforded is expressed by the past
tenses of the two first verbs. "Since thou hast assured me that my
enemy is not to triumph over me, I know already that thou hast even heretofore regarded me with favour." The original expression is a very strong
one, and denotes not only preference but warm and tender affection. See
Gen. xxxiv. 19, where it first occurs. The last verb means properly to shout or make a
noise as a sign of exultation, more especially in war. See 1 Sam. xvii. 20.
13 (12). And as for me—in my integrity thou hast held me, and hast
made me stand before thy face for ever. The first phrase literally means
and I, as if agreeing with some verb suppressed, or as if the construction
had been suddenly changed from I have been held to thou hast held me.
The integrity here claimed is not absolute or sinless perfection, as appears
from the confession in ver. 5 (4), but freedom from essential or fatal defect.
See above, on Ps. xviii. 21-25 (20-24). In my integrity, not simply on
account of it, which is rather implied than expressed, but in the possession
and exercise of it. Thou hast held may either mean held fast or held up,
but the first seems to be the essential meaning of the verb, and really involves
or at least suggests the other. "Thou hast so held me fast as to hold
me up. By retaining thy hold upon me thou hast sustained me." Setting
188
PSALM XLI.
[VER. 13.
before the face seems here to mean making one the object of attention.
keeping constantly in view. The reciprocal act of man towards God is
spoken of in Ps. xvi. 8. As man sets God before him as an object of trust,
so God sets man before him as an object of protection. That this is not
to be a transient but a permanent relation, is implied in the future form
of the verb, and expressed in the adverbial phrase for ever.
14 (13). Blessed (be) Jehovah, the God of Israel, from everlasting and to
everlasting. Amen and Amen. In such connections, blessed is nearly
synonymous with praised or glorified. In the sense of happy, the Hebrew
word can only be applied to creatures. From the perpetuity (already past)
and even to the perpetuity (to come), is a paradoxical but strong expression for
unlimited duration. Amen is a Hebrew verbal adjective meaning firm, sure,
certain, true. It is used as an expression of assent, just as we use right,
good, and true itself, for the same purpose. It was uttered by the people
as an audible response, not only in the time of Moses (Num. v. 22, Deut.
xxxii. 15-26), and of David (1 Chron. xvi. 36), but after the return from
exile (Neh. v. 13, viii. 6), and under the New Testament (1 Cor. xiv. 16).
Its repetition here and elsewhere simply makes it more emphatic and expressive of a stronger and more cordial acquiescence. The doxology before
us marks the close of the first of the five books into which the Psalter is
divided. See below, on Ps. lxxii. 19, lxxxix. 53 (52), cvi. 48.
PSALM XLII.
1. To the Chief Musician. Maschil. To the Sons of Korah. The
obvious reference to personal experience and feelings in this psalm made it
th more necessary to designate it as a maschil or didactic psalm, intended
for permanent and public use. See above, on Ps. xxxii. 1. The experience
described is evidently that of David, and most probably at the time of his
exclusion from the sanctuary in consequence of Absalom's rebellion. See
2 Sam. xv. 25. The only doubt is whether the psalm was composed by
him or by the Sons of Korah. These were a Levitical family of singers,
1 Chron. vi. 1, 7, 16 (16, 22, 31), ix. 19, xxvi. 1, who still continued that
employment in the reign of Jehoshaphat, as appears from 2 Chron. xx. 19.,
This being their office, it would seem more natural to regard them as the
performers rather than the authors of the psalm. It seems improbable,
moreover, that the composition should be ascribed to a whole class or
family. On the other hand, the Sons of Korah are here separated from the
Chief Musician, and occupy precisely that place where we usually find the
author's name. It is also remarkable that we never find the Sons of Korah,
named with David or any other individual author except Heman, who was
probably one of themselves. See below, on Ps. lxxxviii. 1. If he, or any
other of the Sons of Korah, be regarded as the author of the psalm before
us, he must be supposed to have composed it in the person of David, i. e.
to express David's feelings at a particular juncture of his history. It is,
of course, a much more obvious supposition, that David himself wrote it
for this purpose. Nor can the intrinsic probability of this supposition be
destroyed, although it may undoubtedly be weakened, by the difficulty of
accounting for the fact, that David's name is never mentioned in the titles
of any of the eleven psalms inscribed to the Sons of Korah. The psalm
before us is divided by its structure into two parts, marked by the burden
or refrain in ver. 6, 12 (5, 11). In the first, he laments his exclusion from
VER. 1-4.]
PSALM XLII.
189
God's presence, ver. 2, 3 (1, 2), aggravated by the taunts of his enemies,
and the recollection of his former privileges, ver. 4 (3), but confidently
anticipates their restoration, and calls upon his soul to hope and trust in
God, ver. 5, 6 (4, 5). In the second, he goes over the same ground,
though not in the same words, ver. 7, 11 (6, 10), and closes with the same
expression of confidence as before, ver. 12 (11).
2 (1). As a hart panteth after streams of water, so panteth my soul for
thee, (O) God. The first noun is masculine but the verb feminine, so that
we may either read hart or hind. The verb occurs only here and in Joel
i. 20, which is evidently copied from the verse before us. The allusion
may be either to the exhaustion caused by flight, or to the natural effects
of drought. See below, on Ps. lxiii. 2 (1). The essential idea is that of
intense desire and an overwhelming sense of want. Streams of water, waterbrooks. See above, on Ps. xviii. 16 (15).
3 (2). Thirsted has my soul for God, for the living God. When shall I
come and appear before God? The past tense of the first verb shews that
he is not expressing a desire just conceived for the first time, but one with
which he is already familiar. Of the two divine names here used, one
(Elohim) describes God as an object of religious worship, the other (El) as
a Being of infinite power. He is Living and Mighty, as distinguished from
imaginary deities, and from impotent and lifeless, idols. When shall I
come? implies a local, bodily approach, and this agrees with the following
phrase, appear before God, which is the technical expression in the Law for
stated appearance at the sanctuary, except that the divine name Jehovah is
exchanged for Elohim, which occurs ten times in this psalm, and Jehovah only once.
4 (3). My tears have been my bread day and night, in (their) saying to me
all the day, Where (is) thy God? The word translated tears is the collective
term used in Ps. xxxix 13 (12). The Hebrew verb is in the singular.
"My weeping has been my bread," i. e. my food. "Instead of eating I
have wept." See below, Ps. cii. 5 (4), and compare 1 Sam. i. 7, Job
iii. 24. Day and night, all the day, are strong but common phrases for continually, constantly. See above, on Ps. i. 2. In saying, i. e. in the time
of saying, while it is said. Or a pronoun may be supplied, in (their) saying,
while they say, i. e. his enemies. Where is thy God? The very question
is an indirect assertion that God had forsaken him. See above, Ps. iii. 3 (2),
xxii. 9 (8), and below, Ps. lxxi. 11, cxv. 2, and compare Joel ii. 17. The
words of Shimei may have been present to the mind of David. See 2 Sam.
xvi. 7, 8.
5 (4). These (things) I will remember and will pour out upon me my
soul, when I pass in the crowd, (when) I march (with) them up to the house
of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with festive noise (or tumult). This
is the only construction of the sentence which gives the future forms their
proper force instead of converting them into past tenses, which is wholly
arbitrary, and therefore ungrammatical. If the last clause contained a
reminiscence of his former privileges, there was nothing whatever to prevent
the use of the preterite forms. These things, not his former enjoyments,
but his present sufferings. I will remember, I am determined so to do,
this idea being suggested by the very form of the Hebrew verb. If the
verse related only to the past, this strong expression would be out of place.
The act of reflection or self-introversion is expressed by the stong figure of
pouring out his soul upon himself, which at the same time suggests the
idea of lively emotion; not necessarily of grief, as in Job. xxx. 16, but of
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PSALM XLIL
[VER. 5, 6
mingled joy and sadness in the recollection of past sufferings and deliverances, just as we might speak of a man's heart being melted, either with
sorrow or gratitude, or both. When I pass, or still more literally, for I
shall pass, which in that case expresses the confident expectation of a favourable issue. Pass, i. e. pass along in solemn procession. The crowd, or
throng, the Hebrew word suggesting, by its etymological affinities, the idea
of a thicket, and then of a confused mass. The verb translated march
occurs only here and in Isa. xxxviii. 15, where it seems to be borrowed
from the place before us. Its construction is like that of the English march,
which, though commonly intransitive, in some cases governs the noun
directly. If we render it here, I shall march them, it conveys the additional
idea of conducting as well as joining the procession. Up to, a stronger
expression than to, implying actual arrival at the place in question. The
use of music in the processions to the temple may be inferred from 2 Sam.
vi. 5. The word translated noise or tumult may also mean the multitude
by whom it is produced. See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 16, xxxix. 7 (6). But,
the other is the primary meaning and agrees best with the parallel expressions. The last word in Hebrew means originally dancing (1 Sam. xxx. 16),
but with special reference to its ceremonial use, as an expression of religious
joy (2 Sam. vi. 14).
6 (5). Why art thou cast down, (O) my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? Wait thou for God, for I shall yet thank him (for) the
salvation of his face (or presence). The Psalmist's faith addresses his unbelieving fear, as if it were another person. The question involves a
reproof, as if he had said, thou hast no reason to be thus dejected. Why,
literally what, i. e. for what cause, or on what account. Art thou, literally
wilt thou be? Why wilt thou persevere in this extreme and gratuitous dejection? The form of the Hebrew verb is reflexive, why wilt thou deject
thyself, implying, still more strongly than before, that the dejection was a
voluntary one, and therefore culpable. Disquieted, the same verb that is
used in Ps. xxxix. 7 (6), and the root of the noun meaning noise or multitude
in ver. 5 (4) above. Here, as elsewhere, it denotes, not mere uneasiness,
but violent agitation, and is sometimes applied to the commotion of the sea.
See below, on Ps. xlvi. 4 (3), and compare Jer. v. 22. Within me, literally
upon me, as in the foregoing verse. Wait for God, i. e. for the fulfilment
of his promises, implying confidence and hope. The verb translated thank
means strictly to acknowledge, and is applied both to the confession of sin
and to the thankful acknowledgment of benefits received. See above, on
Ps. xxx. 5 (4), xxxii. 5. Salvations, frequent or complete deliverance. See
above, on Ps. xviii. 51 (50). His face, his propitious countenance or aspect,
with allusion to the benediction in Num. vi. 25, 26. See above, on Ps. iv. 7 (6), xvi. 11,
xvii. 15, xxxi. 17 (16). The determination to thank God for his goodness implies a
confident expectation that it will be exercised. See above, on Ps. v. 8 (7).
7 (6). My God, upon me is my soul cast down. Therefore I will remember thee from the land of Jordan and the Hermon, from the hill Mizar. In
spite of his expostulations, his dejection still continues, and can only be removed or mitigated by a more direct recollection of what God is, and has
done for him, and of the mutual relation still subsisting between them.
Upon me, as in the two preceding verses. Here perhaps the phrase may
be intended to suggest, that reliance on himself only deepened his dejection,
and compelled him to repose his trust on some other and more sure foundation. Is cast down, will be so, unless and until thou lift it up. From the
VER. 7, 8.]
PSALM XLII.
191
land implies that he was there excluded from God's presence by exclusion
from his sanctuary. The indefinite expression, land of Jordan, i. e. the
tract through which it flows, as we say the valley of the Mississippi, is
referred specially to the eastern side by the mention of the Hermons, i. e. as
some suppose mount Hermon, and the other mountains upon that side of
the river, just as Baalim means Baal, and other idols worshipped with him
(1 Kings xviii. 18), or more probably mount Hermon, considered not as a
single eminence, but a chain or range like the Alps, the Alleghanies, &c.
In either case it is put for the whole region east of Jordan, which did not
properly belong to Canaan or the Holy Land. (See Josh. xxii. 11). In
this wide sense the expression might be used by David, even in reference to
his abode at Mahanaim, north of the Jabbok, on the borders of Gad and
Manasseh (2 Sam. xvii: 24, 27, 1 Kings ii. 8). Mizar, little or littleness.
Whether this be taken as a proper name, of which there is no trace elsewhere, or as a descriptive epithet, it seems to be contemptuous.
8 (7). Deep unto deep (is) calling at the voice of thy waterspouts; all thy
billows and thy waves over me have passed. The first word in Hebrew seems
to denote strictly a great body of water, and in that sense is applied to the
ocean—see above, on Ps. xxxvi. 7 (6)—and also to its waves. It may here
mean either a wave or a flood. The participle (calling) represents the
scene as actually passing. The idea may be simply, that they respond to
one another's noise, or more emphatically, that each wave invites or summons another to succeed it. For a somewhat similar expression see above,
Ps. xix. 3 (2). Voice, i. e. sound or noise. The Hebrew word is less restricted in its application than the English, so that it is not necessary even
to assume a personification. The next word, in the only other place where
it occurs (2 Sam. v. 8), has the literal meaning of a water-spout or gutter.
It may here denote the continued streams of rain poured upon the earth.
The sense of water-falls or cataracts, although supported by the ancient
versions, has no foundation in etymology or usage. The idea that David
here alludes to the water-falls of Lebanon, by which he was surrounded,
rests on a false interpretation of ver. 7 (6), which, as we have seen, contains a general description of the country east of Jordan, called in later times Perea.
Billows and waves, literally breakers and rollers, i. e. masses of water rolling towards the
shore and broken on it. Throughout this verse there is an obvious allusion to the universal
deluge, as there is in Ps. xxix. 11 (10), xxxii. 6, and often elsewhere.
9 (8). By day will Jehovah command his mercy, and by night his song with
me, a prayer to the God of my life. Notwithstanding his distresses he is
still convinced that God has not forsaken him. By day and night some
understand prosperity and adversity; but they are probably put together to
denote all time, the opposition between song and prayer being merely rhythmical, i. e. occasioned by the parallelism. Compare Ps. xcii. 3 (2). Command his mercy, i. e. exercise it authoritatively, or as a sovereign. His song,
a song of praise to him, implying the experience of his goodness, even in a
season of distress. Compare Job xxxv. 10. These words may be governed
by the verb of the first clause, he will command his song (to be) with me, he
will give me occasion to sing his praise, or construed with the substantive
verb understood, his song (shall be) with me. The God of my life may be
explained to mean my God of life, i. e. my living God. Compare the hill of
my holiness—my hill of holiness—my holy hill, Ps. ii. 6. It is more natural,
however, to understand by the God of my life the God to whom my life belongs, upon whom it depends, and who is bound to protect it. "A prayer
192
PSALM XLII.
[VER. 9-11.
to him who is by creation the author, and by covenant the preserver of my life."
10 (9). I will say to God, my rock, why hast thou forgotten me? Why
go I mourning in the oppression of the enemy? This expostulation may be
regarded as a part or a sample of the prayer which God enabled him to
offer, even in the midst of his afflictions. The divine name here used is
(lxe) the one significant of strength. My rock, my refuge, my protector,
and the foundation of my hope. See above, on Ps. xviii. 3 (2). Why go
I? more exactly, why shall or must I go? Mourning, literally squalid,
dirty. See above, on Ps. xxxv. 14, xxxviii. 7 (6). In the oppression, may
either mean during its continuance, or in consequence of it, or rather both
ideas are included.
11 (10). With murder in my bones, my enemies have taunted me, in their
saying to me all the day, where is thy God? The strong expression in the
first clause is intended to denote excruciating pain. My enemies, oppressors,
or persecutors, as the Hebrew word denotes. Taunted me, a stronger exression than reproach or reviled me, implying scorn as well as anger and
hatred. In their saying, i. e. by their saying and while they say, as in the
foregoing verse. All the day, continually. See above, on ver. 9 (8).
Where is thy God? See above, on ver. 4 (3).
12 (11). Why art thou cast down, (O) my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me. Hope thou in God, for I shall yet thank him (as) the
help of my countenance and my God. As usual in such cases, there is a
slight variation in the burden or refrain from that in ver. 6 (5). See
above on Ps. xxiv. 7-10. Instead of the salvations of his face we have here
the salvations of my face. The attempt to assimilate the two expressions,
by an emendation of the text, is not only destitute of all authority and
evidence, but forbidden by the general practice of the sacred writers in repeating the expressions either of themselves or others. The salvations of
my face is a bold and unusual expression, which appears to mean such deliverances or such abundant help as clears up and illuminates the countenance before clouded and dejected. And my God is not an unmeaning or
gratuitous addition, but has reference to the taunting question in the preceding verse, Where is thy God? As if he had said, "Behold him, he is
here. My God is he who dissipates my clouds and animates my hopes,
and raises me superior to the sneers as well as to the fury of my enemies."
While this variation relieves the repetition from entire sameness, the repetition itself brings the second strophe and the whole psalm to a striking and
symmetrical conclusion.
PSALM XLIII.
A SUFFERER prays to be delivered from unjust and treacherous enemies,
ver. 1-3, expresses a confident assurance that his request will be granted,
ver. 4, and upbraids himself for his despondency and unbelief, ver. 5.
As the last verse is identical with that of the preceding psalm, and the
last clause of ver. 2 nearly so with that of Ps. xlii. 10 (9), some have
inferred that this is really the third stanza or strophe of that psalm,
separated from it by mistake. But the difficulty of accounting for such a
mistake, a difficulty aggravated by the resemblance of the compositions,
together with a very perceptible difference in the general tone of the two
VER. 1-8.]
PSALM XLIII.
193
psalms, makes it far more probable that it is a supplementary psalm, composed by the same person, or in imitation of him, on a different occasion.
The union of the two in more than thirty Hebrew manuscripts, only shews
that their transcribers drew the same hasty conclusion that has since been
drawn by many interpreters, and is much more easily explained than the division of the
psalms in all the other copies, on the contrary hypothesis. Their juxtaposition in the
Psalter is owing not merely to their mutual resemblance, but to the fact that one was
actually written as an appendix or continuation of the other. The same hypothesis
sufficiently accounts for the absence of a title or inscription in the psalm before us.
1. Judge me, (O) God, i. e. do me justice, vindicate my innocence, exercise
thy righteousness in my behalf. See above, on Ps. x. 18, xxvi. 1. And
plead my cause, literally strive my strife, but with particular allusion to litior forensic contest. See above, on Ps. xxxv. 1. Against an ungodly
nation, literally from one; the idea of deliverance, as the necessary consequence of Gods being his advocate, is here implied, and afterwards expressed. The word nations (MyOG) being constantly applied to the gentiles
or heathen, the use of the singular in reference to Israel always conveys an
idea of reproach. Compare Isa. i. 4. Ungodly, more exactly not merciful, the Hebrew word denoting both the object and the subject of benignant
pity. See above on Ps. xxxvii. 28. From a man of fraud. See above,
on Ps. v. 7 (6). And iniquity, or more precisely, perverseness, moral
obliquity. Thou wilt deliver me. This is strictly an expression of strong
confidence, but really includes the prayer, deliver thou me.
2. For thou art the God of my strength. The last word means properly
my place of strength, my stronghold, or my fortress. See above on Ps.
xxvii. 1. For what (cause) hast thou cast me off, renounced, rejected me?
The original expression is a very strong one, and implies disgust or loathing. Compare Rev. iii. 16. (Why) do I go, or more exactly, shall I, must
I go, i. e. go about, in different directions. The verb is an intensive form
of that used in Ps. xlii. 10 (9), and occurs above, in Ps. xxxv. 14, in the
same connection as here. Mourning, with special reference to the neglect
of neatness, both) in dress and person, as a customary sign of grief. See
above, on Ps. xxxv. 14, xxxviii. 7 (6), xlii. 10 (9). In (i. e. during and
because of) the oppression (persecution) of the enemy. All this is indirectly
represented as inbonsistent with the covenant relation he sustains to God.
3. Send, i. e. send forth out from thy presence. See above, on Ps. xiv.
7, xx. 3 (2). Thy light, the light of thy countenance, thy favourable
aspect, as in Ps. iv. 7 (6), or more generally, light, as the opposite of
darkness, and a figure for relief from that of which darkness is the emblem,
to wit, danger and distress. And thy truth, thy veracity, thy faithfulness,
the certain fulfilnient of thy promises. See above, on Ps. xxv. 5, xxvi. 3,
xxx. 10 (9). To send it out is to exercise this attribute, to manifest it in
act, by performing his engagements. They, with emphasis on the pronoun,
which is otherwise superfluous in Hebrew, they and no other, nothing else.
See above, on Ps. xxiii. 4. Shall guide (conduct or lead) me, or giving the
future an optative meaning, which is certainly implied in this connection,
let them lead me. They shall cause me to come (or let them bring me) to thy
hill of holiness (thy holy hill) and to thy dwellings, or thy tabernacles, as the
Hebrew word is specially applied to the Mosaic sanctuary (Ex. xxv. 9,
Num. i. 50). This petition seems to imply a previous exclusion from it,
and thereby shews that the historical occasion of the psalm, if not the
same, was similar to that of the forty-second. The form of expression
194
PSALM XLIII.
[VER. 4, 5.
seems to be borrowed from Exod. xv. 13. The mention of the tabernacle
and the holy hill, i. e. mount Zion, shews that the psalm is neither earlier
nor later than the times of David and Solomon, before whom there was no
holy hill, and after whom there was no tabernacle. This strengthens the
presumption that David was himself the author of both psalms.
4. And I shall come, as an expression of strong confidence that God will
save him from his present troubles, or I will come, as the expression of a
purpose, amounting to a vow or solemn promise. Both these ideas, though
requiring a slight variation of expression in our idiom, would be necessarily
suggested to a Hebrew reader by the original verb, the paragogic form of
which, however, shews that the second is the primary idea. See above, on
Ps. xlii. 5 (4). To the altar of God (Elohim), as the place of sacrifice
here put for the whole sanctuary. To God (El) the gladness of my joy, my
joyous gladness, the author and the object of my highest exultation. And
I will thank thee, praise thee for thy benefits, with a harp (rOn.Ki), the instrunaent on which David's history describes him as excelling. See above, on
Ps. xxxiii. 2, and compare 1 Sam. xvi. 16, 23. What he here vows is not
mere private praise, but participation in the public praises of the sanctuary.
God, my God. Not merely God in general, but my God in particular.
Either expression by itself would have been insufficient to express the whole
idea, God being too vague, my God too restricted, whereas the combination
of the two implies that his God was not a personal, domestic, or national
divinity, but the supreme God.
5. Why art thou cast down, literally why wilt thou deject thyself, implying
self-rebuke for an unreasonable and untimely sadness. (O) my soul, which
is really equivalent to myself. And why art thou disquieted, why wilt thou
be agitated by these anxious doubts and groundless fears? See above, on
Ps. xlii. 6 (5). Within me, literally upon me, as if his unbelieving fears
weighed upon him as a heavy burden. Hope thou in God, or more exactly,
wait thou for him, for his appearance, for his help, for the fulfilment of his
promise. This, he is confident, will come at last. For I shall yet praise
him, thank him, or acknowledge his kindness. (As) the health of my countenance, or more exactly, the salvations of my face, the salvations which are
yet to cheer my clouded aspect and lift up my dejected countenance. The
exact coincidence of this verse with the last of the preceding psalm, so far
from proving it to be a part of it, rather proves the contrary, for reasons
which have been already stated in the exposition of Ps. xlii. 12 (11).
PSALM XLIV.
1. To the Chief Musician. To the Sons of Korah. Maschil. The same
question here arises as in Ps. xlii., as to the sense in which the psalm is
ascribed to the Sons of Korah. For the reasons there assigned, it is, on
the whole, most probable that David is the author, however difficult it may
be to account for the omission of his name in the inscription, and the appearance of the sons of Korah in the place which it usually occupies. See above,
on Ps. xlii. 1. The addition of Maschil, i. e. a didactic psalm, is meant to
shew that though occasioned by a particular event, perhaps the same as in
Ps. lx., it was composed and left on record for the permanent use and edification of God's people. See above, on Ps. xxxii. 1. The train of thought.
is marked with unusual distinctness. God was, in ancient times, the protector and deliverer of Israel, ver. 2-5 (1-4). He is still their national
VER. 1-4.]
PSALM XLIV.
195
and covenanted God, ver. 6-10 (5-9). But he seems to have given them
up to their enemies, ver. 11-18 (10-17). Yet Israel still cleaves to him
and suffers for his sake, ver. 19-23 (18-22). He is therefore importuned
to reappear for their deliverance, ver. 24-27 (23-26). The state of things
described and the sentiments expressed in this psalm, do not afford the
slightest reason for referring it to any later period than that of David, when
the same occasions of complaint and importunity were in existence,
although not to so great an extent as afterwards.
2 (1). O God, with our ears have we heard, our fathers have recounted to
us, the work thou didst work in their days, in the days of old. What they
had heard with their ears is tacitly contrasted with the very different things
which they had seen with their eyes. See below, Ps. xlviii. 9 (8), and
compare Judges vi. 13, 2 Chron. xx. 7, Hab. iii. 2. Our fathers have told us,
as enjoined or predicted in Exod. x. 2. The verb means properly to count,
and then to recount or relate, with particular reference to the detailed enumeration of particulars. See above, on Ps. ii. 7. The last clause may be
construed as a separate proposition. A work thou didst work, &c. But
this leaves the active verbs of the first clause without a grammatical object.
The emphatic combination of the verb and its derivative noun is greatly
weakened in the English Bible, what work thou didst, and still more in the
Prayer-book version, what thou hast done. The particular work meant, as appears from
what follows, is the conquest of Canaan and the settlement of Israel in it.
3 (2). Thou (with), thy hand didst nations dispossess and plant them, didst
crush peoples and extend them. This, though a literal translation, is obscure
in English, because the pronoun them in both clauses refers to Israel. In
the second clause it might indeed have reference to the Canaanites, and the
verb be taken in the sense of sending out, expelling, as in Gen. iii. 23,
1 Kings ix. 7, Isa.,1. 1. But as it is also used to signify the sending out
of shoots or branches by a tree or vine, Ps. lxxx. 12 (11), Jer. xvii. 8,
Ezek. xvii. 6, 7, xxxi. 5, the parallelism seems decisive in favour of that
meaning here. The verb translated dispossess means properly to cause to
inherit, but is sometimes applied to the substitution of one heir or possessor
for another. See Exod. xxxiv. 24, Num. xxxii. 21, xxxiii. 52, Deut. iv. 38.
The verb translated crush may simply mean to injure; but the stronger
sense is here entitled to the preference.
4 (3). For not with their sword did they possess the land, and their (own)
arm did not save them; for (it was) thy right hand, and thy arm and the
light of thy countenance; for thou didst favour them. The for at the beginning introduces the proof or amplification of the general statement in the
preceding verse, that it was God who planted and settled them. Save them,
literally to or for them. i. e. did not bring deliverance to them, or work out
deliverance for them. The translation of the second yKi by but gives the
sense but not the form of the original, as the use of the particle, in its strict
sense, just before and after, forbids our taking the intermediate one in any
other. With the first clause compare Josh. xxiv. 12 with the last clause,
Ps. iv. 7 (6).
5 (4). Thou art He, my King, (O) God! Command deliverances for
Jacob. The form of expression in the first clause is highly idiomatic and
somewhat obscure. It may either mean, "Thou who hast done all this
art still my king," or "Thou art he who is my king," which last may be
thus resolved into the English idiom, "It is thou who art my king." Compare 2 Sam. vii. 28, 1 Chron. xxi. 17. The church here claims the same
196
PSALM XLIV.
[VER. 5-10.
relation to Jehovah that was sustained by the former generations of his
people. The last clause may also be translated, order the salvations of Jacob,
i. e. cause them to take place and regulate them by thy providence. The
personal name of the patriarch is poetically substituted for his official title
as the father of the chosen people. See above, on Ps. xxiv. 6.
6 (5). In thee our adversaries will we push; in thy name will we trample
our assailants. The hopes of Israel still rely upon that power which expelled
the Canaanites. The word translated adversaries properly means those who
press, oppress, or persecute. See above, on Ps. iii. 2 (1), and compare Ps.
xiii. 5 (4), xxvii. 2, 12. Our assailants, literally our risers up, those
rising up against us. See above, on Ps. xviii. 40 (39), and compare Deut.
xxxiii. 11. The verb in the first clause means specifically to push with the
horns, to toss, or gore. See Exod. xxi. 28-32, and compare Deut. xxxiii.
47, 1 Kings xxii. 11. In thy name, not merely by thy authority, or as thy
representatives, but in thyself, in union and communion with thee. See
above, on Ps. v. 12 (11), xviii. 30 (29). The meaning of the future verbs
in this connection is, that they will triumph, if at all, in this way. They
must prevail thus or be vanquished.
7 (6). For not in my bow will I trust, and my sword will (or can) not
save me. "What was true of my fathers is equally true of me. As they
did not prevail by their own strength, neither can I hope to prevail by mine."
8 (7). In God have we praised all the day, and thy name unto eternity
will we acknowledge. Selah. The construction in the first clause, although
foreign from our idiom, is more expressive than the simple phrase, we have
praised God. It names God first, as the object in which the occasion and
the theme of praise had been sought and found. "It is in God that we
find the subject of our praises." The common version (boasted) confounds
the verb here used with another derivative of the same root. Thy name,
thy manifested nature. See above, on Ps. v. 12 (11). To eternity, or
perpetuity, for ever. All the day (long), i. e. always. See above, on Ps.
xxv. 5, xlii. 11 (10). Acknowledge, i. e. gratefully give thanks. See above,
on Ps. vi. 6 (5).
9 (8). For thou hast saved us from our adversaries, and our haters (or
those hating us) hast shamed. The preterites in this verse are explanatory
of the futures in the one before it. "We will not rely upon ourselves
hereafter, because it is thou who hast helped us heretofore." This logical
relation of the verses is destroyed by confounding the preterites and futures
with each other, or explaining both as presents. Shamed, i. e. defeated,
disappointed. See above, on Ps. vi. 11 (10), xiv. 6.
10 (9). Nay, thou hast rejected and disgraced us, and thou wilt not go
forth with our hosts. The particle at the beginning (Jxa) implies something
more than a negation of the favours just described. "But now thou dost
not so deal with us; nay more, thou hast rejected us." This Hebrew verb
implies disgust and abhorrence. See above; on Ps. xliii. 2. The other
verb means to put to shame, to cover with disgrace, as in Ps. xxxv. 4, xl.
15 (14). The past tense of the first verbs implies that the rejection was
already manifest; the future following implies an apprehension that it would
continue. Go out with our hosts, as a guide, a commander, and an ally.
Compare 2 Sam. v. 24.
11 (10). Thou wilt make us turn back from the adversary, and (already)
those hating us have plundered for them, i. e. for themselves. Two of the
most unwelcome incidents of warfare are here specified, flight and spolia-
VER. 11-18.]
PSALM XLIV.
197
tion. Spoiled for themselves, not merely for their own advantage, but at
their own will and discretion. Compare 1 Sam. xiv. 48, xxiii. 1.
12 (11). Thou wilt give us as sheep (for) food, and among the nations
hast scattered us, The consecution of the tenses is the same as in the preceding verse. Sheep for food, or flocks of food, i. e. intended and accustomed
to be eaten. Give may either mean place, render, constitute, or give up,
abandon. The last clause has by some been understood to refer to the
Babylonish exile, and regarded as a proof of later date. But in every war
with the surrounding countries, there were partial deportations and dispersions. See Joel iv. 2, Amos i. 6, 9, and compare 1 Kings viii. 46.
13 (12). Thou wilt sell thy people without gain, and hast not increased by
their price. They seemed to be gratuitously given up, i. e. without necessity
or profit. Without gain, literally wealth or riches, as a product or equivalent.
The same noun may be repeated in the next clause, thou hast not increased
(thy wealth), just as the verb gain is absolutely used in English. Their
price, literally their prices, perhaps with reference to the individual captives,
or to repeated sales of the kind here mentioned. Another possible but far
less natural construction, treats the preposition as a mere connective, and
reads, thou hast not enhanced their price, i. e. set a high price upon them,
implying that he had, on the contrary, sold them for too little, or rather
given them away for nothing. Compare Jer. xv. 13.
14 (13). Thou wilt make us a reproach to our neighbours, a scoff and a jest
to those around us. If this state of things continues, such will be the necessary issue. Make us, literally place us, set us up, expose us. See above,
on Ps. xxxix. 9 (8), and with the whole verse compare Ps. lxxix. 4, lxxxix. 42 (41).
15 (14). Thou wilt make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the
head among the peoples. A byword, literally a likeness or comparison, a
case that may be cited as a memorable instance or example. The expression
is borrowed from Deut. xxviii. 37. A shaking of the head, i. e. an object at
which men will shake their heads, as an expression of contemptuous pity.
See above, on Ps. xxii. 8 (7).
16 (15). All the day my disgrace is before me, and shame my face has
covered. It is before me so that I cannot fail to see it or lose sight of it.
See above, Ps. xxxviii. 18 (17). Shame is here represented as a covering,
as in Jer. 25, but perhaps with special reference to the suffusion of the
face with blushes, as in Ps. lxix. 8 (7).
17 (16). From the voice of slanderer and reviler, from the face of enemy
and avenger. The preposition indicates the source or the occasion of the
shame described in the preceding verse. Face may here mean either presence or the expression of the countenance. The last word is properly a
participle, and means taking vengeance or avenging one's self. Here, as in
Ps. viii. 3 (2), it denotes a spiteful and revengeful enemy.
18 (17). All this has come upon us, and we have not forgotten thee, and
have not been false to thy covenant. With the first clause compare Judges
vi. 13. Come upon us: the construction is the same as in Ps. xxxv. 8.
We have not been false, or acted falsely. The same verb with the same preposition, in Lev. xix. 11, has the sense of lying, or acting fraudulently,
towards another. See also Ps. lxxxix. 34 (33). What is here professed
is not entire exemption from all acts of infidelity, but freedom from the
deadly sin of total oblivion and apostasy. In spite of his unfaithfulness,
Israel still claimed to be and was the chosen people of Jehovah.
19 (18). Our heart has not turned back and our steps declined from thy
198
PSALM XLIV.
[VER. 19-22.
path. The force of the negative extends to both clauses, as in Ps. ix. 19 (18).
Heart and steps are put for inward affection and its fruit, external action.
Turned back and turned aside are natural and common figures for moral
delinquency. Thy path, the way of thy commandments.
20 (19). That thou hast crushed us in a place of dragons, and hast covered
over us with deathshade. The construction is continued from the preceding
sentence. The connection may be thus made plain in our idiom. "We
have been guilty of no such infidelity or total apostasy, that thou shouldest
deal with us in this way." Crushed, bruised, or broken in pieces. See
above, on Ps. x. 10, and below, on Ps. li. 9 (8). Dragons may here be
understood as meaning wild beasts or lonely animals in general. Whether
the Hebrew word specifically signifies wild-cats, wolves, or jackals, is a
question of little exegetical importance. The essential meaning of the
whole phrase is a place inhabited by lonely creatures, i. e. a wilderness or
desert. Compare Isa. xiii. 22, xxxiv. 13, xliii. 20, Jer. ix. 10 (11), x. 22,
xlix. 33, Ps. lxiii. 11 (10). Covered over, i. e. covered up, completely covered, a stronger
expression than the simple verb. Deathshade, or the shadow of death, a strong poetical
expression for the profoundest darkness. See above, on Ps. xxiii. 4.
21 (20). If we have forgotten the name of our God, and spread our hands
to a strange God. Some regard this as the common elliptical formula of
swearing. "(God do so to us and more also) if we have forgotten," which
is equivalent to saying, "we have not forgotten." Another method of
supplying the ellipsis is exemplified in Josh. xxii. 22. But since the verse,
conditionally understood, yields a good sense in connection with the next
verse, this, as being the more obvious construction, is entitled to the preference. The act of holding up or stretching out the hands is often mentioned as a natural gesture of entreaty. See Exod. ix. 29, 33, 1 Kings
viii. 38, Isa. i. 15. The word God in the version represents two different
divine names in Hebrew, Elohim and El. See above, on Ps. xliii. 4. A
strange God, or a God (who is) a stranger, i. e. to Jehovah and his people.
The Hebrew word is applied by Moses both to men (Exod. xxx. 33) and idols
(Deut. xxxii. 16),
22 (21). Shall not God search this out? For he knoweth the secrets of
the heart. This is the apodosis of the sentence begun in the preceding
verse." If we have done thus, must not God know it?" The primary
meaning of the verb translated search out is to dig, to bring to light what
is hidden under ground. Thence, by a natural transition, it denotes the
investigation and disclosure of all secrets. The interrogation is an indirect
but strong affirmation of the fact in question. The for, at the beginning of
the last clause, does not indicate the reason of the question, but of the
affirmative answer which is tacitly implied. He (is) knowing, a form of
expression which denotes continued and habitual knowledge. See above,
on Ps. i. 6, and with the sentiment compare that of Ps. vii. 10 (9).
23 (22). Because for thee have we been killed all the day; we have been
reckoned as sheep for slaughter. The causal particle at the beginning does
not refer to what immediately precedes, but to the remoter context, and
adduces a proof of the assertion, that the church had not forgotten or forsaken God. This proof is afforded by the fact that their very sufferings
were on his account. For thee, for thy sake, literally on thee, on (account
of) thee, on thy account. The preterite form, we have been killed, includes
the present, we are killed, but with the additional idea that the sufferings
in question were not new or altogether recent, but had long been experi-
VER. 23-26.]
PSALM XLIV.
199
enced. Reckoned, counted, estimated, i. e. by our enemies, who set no
higher value on our lives than on those of sheep for the slaughter, literally
a flock of slaughter, i. e. one destined or accustomed to be slaughtered.
This expression ccrresponds exactly to sheep for food, or flock of food, in
ver. 12 (11) above. The whole verse is a strong poetical description of
severe persecution or distress arising from the spite of enemies, and as such
is applied by Paul to the sufferings of the church of Christ, in which the
ancient Israel continues to exist. See Rom. viii. 36.
24 (23). Arouse thee! Why wilt thou sleep, O Lord? Awake, do not
cast off for ever. This bold apostrophe implies strong faith, as well as warm
affection. Such an address would not be made to an inanimate object, or
an imaginary being. The idea is the same as in Ps. iii. 8 (7), to wit, that
the withholding of God's help, or of his sensible presence, may be figuratively described as a state of inaction or of sleep, from which he awakes and
arises when he once more manifests his presence and affords his aid.
Compare Ps. cxxi. 4, Mat. viii. 25. The verse is therefore really nothing
more than an importunate petition for divine assistance. Cast off, reject with
loathing and contempt, the same strong expression that occurs in ver.
10 (9), above. For ever, literally to perpetuity. The Hebrew phrase is not
the same, however that occurs in ver. 9 (8). above.
25 (24). Why wilt thou hide thy face, wilt thou forget our suffering and
our persecution (or oppression)? The same thing which had just been represented by the figure of sleep is here described as a refusal to see and to
remember. Both figures are employed in Ps. xiii. 2 (1), above, in reference to precisely he same subject. These anthropomorphisms, which
would be unlawful in an uninspired writer, are perfectly intelligible, and
exceedingly expressive. The word translated suffering (or affliction) is
generic, and includes all forms of physical evil, one of which is then specified, to wit, the suffering caused by powerful and spiteful enemies. The
same word denotes oppression or persecution at the hand of wicked men, in
Ps. xlii. 10 (9), xli i. 2. Why wilt thou forget is evidently more than why
dost thou forget, for it conveys the additional idea, "Why wilt thou persist
in doing as thou hast done heretofore, and art doing now?"
26 (25). For bowed (or sunk) to the dust is our soul, fixed to the earth is
our belly. Both Hebrew verbs are active, and literally mean, our soul has
bowed down, our belly has adhered. Belly may either have the sense of body,
as opposed to soul, as in Ps. xxxi. 10 (9), above, or be taken in its proper
sense, in which case the whole clause is descriptive of the deepest degradation, a grovelling on the earth, without the capacity or wish to rise, a state
like that of the lowest reptiles, or the one denounced upon the serpent in
Gen. iii. 14. Whatever the image here presented may be, it is evidently
meant to represent a state of deep depression and debasement.
27 (26). Rise, a help for us, and redeem us for the sake of thy mercy!
This is the conclusion of his arguments, and the sum of his petitions.
Arise, from this state of apparent inaction, and exert thy power. Not
merely for our help, as in Ps. xxxviii. 23 (22), but as our help, thou who
art thyself our help, its source, its author, a much stronger expression than
our helper, though essentially synonymous. See above, Ps. xl. 18 (17),
and below, Ps. lxiii. 8 (7). Because of thy mercy, as a ground or reason;
according to thy mercy, as a rule or measure; for the sake of thy mercy, i. e.
for its honour, as a motive and an end to be accomplished.
200
PSALM XLV.
[VER. 1.
PSALM XLV.
THE intimate relation of the Messiah to the chosen people, and eventually to the other nations, is described in this psalm as the union of a mighty
king with foreign princesses, among whom one is represented as the queen.
This kind of allegory is a common one in Scripture, but appears to have
derived its peculiar form in this case from the court and household of Solomon. After a title, ver. 1, the Psalmist announces his design to sing the
praises of the King, ver. 2 (1), whom he then describes as full of beauty,
grace, and the divine blessing, ver. 3 (2), as a conquering hero in the cause
of truth and righteousness, ver. 4-6 (3-5), as a divine, perpetual, and
righteous sovereign, ver. 7 (6), and as such invested with peculiar honours
and enjoyments, ver. 8 (7), clothed in royal, festal, and nuptial garments,
ver. 9 (8), surrounded by kings' daughters, with a queen at his right hand,
ver. 10 (9). The Psalmist then addresses her directly in the language of
congratulation and admonition, ver. 11-13 (10-12), and describes her
apparel and her marriage procession, ver. 14-16 (13-15). In conclusion,
the king is again addressed, with the assurance of a numerous posterity,
ver. 17 (16), and endless fame, ver. 18 (17). The attempt to explain
this as a mere epithalamium in honour of Solomon, or Ahab, or some
later king, Jewish or Persian, has always been defeated by the difficulty of
determining the subject, and the impossibility of accounting for the reception of such a poem into a collection of devotional songs, intended for the
permanent use of the ancient church. The absence of any analogous
example is admitted upon all hands. The allegorical or Messianic sense is
given by the oldest interpreters, both Jewish and Christian. The allegorical idea of this psalm is carried out in the Song of Solomon, to which it
bears the same relation as Ps. xxxvii. to the Book of Proverbs, and Ps.
xxxix. to the Book of Job.
1. To the Chief Musician. Upon lilies. To the Sons of Borah. Maschil A song of loved (ones). The unusual accumulation of descriptive
titles in this verse suggests at once that the psalm is one of deep and
solemn import, and thus raises a presumption against its being a mere
epithalamium, or a secular poem of any kind. This presumption is confirmed by the inscription to the Chief Musician, implying that the psalm
was designed for permanent and public use. See above, on Ps. iv. 1.
This description, it is true, might be applied to all the psalms without
exception; but it was particularly needed in the case of those which seem,
at first sight, to be mere expressions of individual feeling, and still more
in the case of those which, to a superficial reader, seem to be entirely secular in theme and spirit. The same thing is true, in substance, of the next
term, maschil, instruction. The psalm before us is among the last which
would have been selected by a modern critic as didactic in its character.
But since it is so, this very fact affords a cogent reason for so designating
it. This designation, at the same time, corroborates the previous presumption, that the psalm is allegorical, because an amatory nuptial song
could not, in any sense, be called a maschil. The same thing is rendered
still more certain by the ascription to the Sons of Korah, whether as authors
or performers, since in either character their function was a sacred one;
they were not profane bards or minstrels, but Levitical precentors in the
temple worship. See above, on Ps. xlii. 1. As this employment was continued in the family for many generations, there is no difficulty in assum-
VER. 1.]
PSALM XLV.
201
ing that the Sons of Korah here meant were contemporaries of Solomon,
to whose regal and domestic habits the psalm contains so many obvious
allusions. The other two expressions in the title are more dubious. Upon
lilies is supposed by some to mean on instruments of that shape. See
above, on Ps. viii. 1. Others suppose it to denote a mode of execution, or
an air, or another composition upon which this was modelled. Others
more plausibly maintain that this and all analogous inscriptions have respect
to the subject or contents, and that lilies are a natural emblem of female
beauty, the plural form implying a plurality of persons, such as we meet
with in the psalm itself. See below, ver. 10, 11, 16 (9, 10, 15). A song
of loves would seem to mean either a love-song or a lovely song. But the
usage of the Hebrew word requires it to be taken in the concrete sense of
loved or beloved, the plural feminine form serving to identify the person
thus described with the lilies of the other clause. These two phrases,
taken together, represent the subject of the psalm to be lovely and beloved
women, while the other terms of the description, which have been explained
already, shew that the love and marriage here referred to are not natural,
but spiritual, to wit, the union of Messiah with his people, or of Christ
with his church, an idea running through both testaments. Compare Isa.
liv. 5, lxii. 4, 5, Jer. iii. 1, Ezek. xvi. and xxiii., Mat. ix. 15, xxii. 2,
xxv. 1, John iii. 29, Rom. vii. 4, 2 Cor. xi. 2, Eph. v. 25-32, Rev. xix. 7,
xxi. 2, xxii. 17. The allegory is more fully carried out in the first three
chapters of Hosea, but in these and all other passages referred to, the essential idea is borrowed from the Law, in which the national unfaithfulness to
Jehovah is constantly described as a spiritual adultery, implying a conjugal
relation between him and his people. See Exod. xxxiv. 15, 16, Lev. xvii. 7,
xx. 5, 6, Num. xiv. 33. On the whole, then, this psalm appears to be a
description of Messiah in his conjugal relation both to Israel and other
nations, composed either by or for the sons of Korah in the reign of Solomon, from which the imagery seems to be borrowed, and designed for the
permanent instruction of the church, by being used as a vehicle of pious
feeling in her public worship.
2 (1). My heart has overflowed—a good word (am) I saying—my works
for the king—my tongue the pen of a rapid writer. The whole verse is a
strong metaphorical description of the way in which his thoughts were
engrossed, and his words suggested, by one great theme. The first word
properly denotes ebullition, the agitation and effervescence of a boiling
liquid, or the similar phenomena presented by the bubbling up of water in
a fountain. It is here used to express the spontaneous gush of feeling,
thought, and word, in the inspired writer. This first clause may also be
connected with the next, as indicated by the accents. My heart is overflowing (with) a good word (or goodly speech), i. e. the subject upon which
he is about to speak. The next words may then be rendered, I am saying,
(or I say), my works to the king, i. e. they belong to him, or as an exclamation, "let them be his!" My works, all that I do, including the praise
here offered. The king meant is the ideal and expected king of Israel, the
Messiah. The last clause may also be an exclamation. (Be) my tongue the
pen of a rapid writer! i. e. let it skilfully and promptly give expression to my thoughts
and feelings. It is probably in allusion to this passage that Ezra is described as a ready
scribe or rapid writer (Ezra vii. 6). Although particular expressions in this verse may be
obscure, its general import is entirely unambiguous, as an animated declaration of the
writer's purpose, and a preface to his praise of the Messiah.
202
PSALM XLV.
[VER. 2-4.
3 (2). Beautiful, beautiful, art thou above the sons of man; grace is
poured into thy lips; therefore God hath blessed thee to eternity. The first
word in Hebrew is a reduplicated form, expressing the idea with intensity
and emphasis. He is not praised as the fairest or most beautiful of men,
but as fair or beautiful beyond all human standard or comparison. This
general ascription of all loveliness is followed by the specification of a single
chain', that of delightful captivating speech. Grace, in Hebrew as in
English, denotes both a cause and an effect; in this case, grace or beauty
of expression, produced by the divine grace or favour, and reciprocally tending to increase it. On any hypothesis, except the Messianic one, this verse
is unintelligible. If the first clause were intended to describe a mere corporeal beauty, how could this be followed up by commending the grace of
the lips, or either be recognised as the ground of an eternal blessing? It
is only by supposing that the person here meant is the chief among ten
thousand and altogether lovely, that the beauty predicated of him includes
every moral and spiritual attraction, and that the grace of his lips has reference to his prophetic character and office, that the sentence can be made
to seem coherent, and the promise at its close appropriate. The type, in
this allegorical description, may have been furnished by him, of whom the
queen of Sheba said (1 Kings x. 8), "Happy thy men, happy these thy
servants who stand before thee always, who hear thy wisdom." But the
glorious antitype was He, to whom "all bare witness, and wondered at the
WORDS OF GRACE proceeding out of his mouth" (Luke iv. 22).
4 (3). Gird thy sword on thy thigh, Mighty (One), thy honour and thy
majesty. Arm thyself for battle and for conquest. Compare 1 Sam. xxv. 13.
As the act of girding is applied both to weapons and to clothing, the mention of the one here suggests the other. "Arm thyself with strength and
clothe thyself with majesty." The two words at the end of the sentence
are constantly employed to denote the divine majesty (Ps. xcvi. 6, civ. 1,
cxi. 3), as distinguished from that of mortals (Job xl. 10), or as bestowed
upon them by a special divine favour (Ps. xxi. 6). The first of the two is
separately used to signify specifically royal dignity (1 Chron. xxix. 25, Dan.
xi. 21). The use of these expressions, together with the epithet of Mighty or Hero, which
is one of the characteristic titles of Messiah in prophecy (Isa. ix. 6), confirms the previous
conclusion that he is here the object of address. As to the sword, see Rev. i. 16, ii. 12, xx.
15, 21; and with the whole verse compare Ps. cx. 5-7.
5 (4). And (in) thy majesty, pass on, ride forth, for the sake of truth and
humble right; and thy right hand shall guide thee (to) terrible deeds. The
first words may also be explained, without supplying in, as an emphatic
repetition of what goes before. And thy majesty (I say). The first verb
may be rendered prosper, as in Isa. liii. 10; but it seems best to retain its
primary sense, which is to pass by or over, to advance, or as we say familiarly, to go ahead. By riding we may understand the act of riding in a
chariot of war, which was customary with the ancient kings. See the same
verb so used in 2 Kings ix. 16, and compare 1 Kings xxii. 34, 35. For
the sake, literally on the word, which may possibly denote that on which the
conqueror rides, to wit, the word of truth. But this figure would not be
very intelligible, and in almost every other case where the Hebrew phrase
occurs, it is evident that word is used precisely as the English words
account and sake are in the familiar combinations, on account of, for the
sake of. See above on Ps. xviii. 1. Thus understood, it here points out
the object of Messiah's conquests, to wit, the vindication of truth, i. e.
VER. 5, 6.]
PSALM XLV.
203
veracity, as opposed to fraud, and humble right, as opposed to proud
iniquity. In this last phrase both the Hebrew words are nouns, but rather
in apposition than regimen, so that the literal translation would be humilityrighteousness, right asserted in humility against a wrong maintained by
pride and selfishness. Thy right hand, as the seat of martial strength,
and the organ of aggressive action. Shall guide, or point the way, the
proper meaning of the Hebrew verb, which, like other verbs expressing or
implying motion, may be followed directly by a noun, where our idiom
would require an intervening preposition. Terrible (things), fearful (deeds),
literally dreaded; but the Hebrew passive participle frequently includes the
idea of a future passive participle in Latin. The insensible transition from
the imperative to the future shews that the former was really prophetic,
and that the prayer of this and the preceding verse is only a disguised prediction
of Messiah's triumphs, as one going forth conquering and to conquer.
6 (5). Thine arrows are sharp—nations under thee shall fall—in the
heart of the king's enemies. The word translated sharp is properly a participle meaning sharpened, like acutus from acuo, and may here have the
same sense as in Isa. v. 28, whose arrows are sharpened and all his bows
bent, i. e. all his weapons of war ready for immediate use. Nations, not
merely individuals, nor even armies, but whole nations, a description
peculiarly, though. not exclusively, appropriate to a superhuman conqueror.
In order to remove the apparent incoherence of the second and third members of the sentence, some give heart the local sense of midst. "Nations
shall fall under thee in the midst of the king's enemies." But this explanation of heart is not justified by usage, and the king's enemies are evidently
the nations themselves. Others make the second clause a vocative—thou
under whom the nations fall—or a mere parenthesis, with a verb supplied
after it—thy sharp arrows (nations fall under thee) shall penetrate into the
heart of the king's enemies. But these are forced if not ungrammatical
constructions, and by far the simplest solution is to repeat the first clause
before the third—thine arrows are sharp—nations fall under thee—(thine
arrows are sharp) in the heart of the king's enemies. This is the more
natural, as the falling of the nations is supposed to be produced by the
arrows. "Thine arrows are sharpened, and ready for the conquest of the
nations; yes, thine arrows are already sharp in the heart of the king's
enemies."This last expression does not refer to a different person from
the one addressed, but is merely a more emphatic way of saying, "thine
enemies, O king!"
7 (6). Thy throne, (O) God, (is) for ever and ever; a sceptre of rectitude
(is) the sceptre of thy kingdom. To avoid the obvious ascription of divinity
contained in the first clause, two very forced constructions have been proposed. 1. Thy throne (is the throne of) God for ever and ever. 2. Thy
God-throne (or divine throne) is for ever. But even admitting, what is
very doubtful, that a few examples of this syntax occur elsewhere, the sense
thus obtained is unsatisfactory and obscure, and this is still more true of
that afforded by the only obvious or natural construction besides the one
first given, namely, thy throne is God for ever and ever. The explanation
of God as a vocative is not only the most obvious, and sustained by the
analogy of Ps. xliii. 1, xliv. 5 (4), xlviii. 10, 11 (9, 10), &c., but is found
in all the ancient versions and adopted in the New Testament (Heb. 8),
and was admitted even by the anti-Messianic interpreters, until they were
obliged to abandon the position that Elohim might be taken in a lower
204
PSALM XLV.
[VER. 7, 8.
sense. For ever and ever, literally eternity and perpetuity. See above,
on Ps. v. 12 (11), ix. 6 (5). The same perpetuity is asserted of Jehovah's
reign in Ps. x. 16. It is also promised to the royal line of David, ending
and eternised in Messiah. See the original promise in 2 Sam. vii. 13, 16,
and its varied repetition in Ps. xxi. 5 (4), xviii. 51 (50), lxxii. 5, lxxxix. 5,
37, 38 (4, 36, 37), cx. 4, cxxxii. 12 (11), Isa. ix. 6 (7). A sceptre, properly a staff or rod, particularly as a badge of office and especially of royal
dignity. See above, on Ps. xxiii. 4. Rectitude, in a moral or figurative
sense, derived from the physical and proper one of straightness, whether
linear or superficial. See below, Ps. lxvii. 5 (4), and compare Isa. xi. 4.
Kingdom, or as an abstract, royalty, in which sense it may qualify the
noun before it, so that the whole phrase will express the idea royal sceptre.
8 (7). Thou hast loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God,
thy God, hath anointed thee (with) oil of joy above thy fellows. The moral
excellency of the person here addressed is represented as the meritorious.
ground of the divine favours by which he was distinguished. In an epithalamium, or an amatory poem, this would be ridiculous. The past
tenses represent the moral qualities ascribed to him as already manifested
and familiar. The substitution of the present greatly weakens the express
Sion. Here, as in the verse preceding, God may be a vocative. Thy God, O
God, hath anointed thee, &c. Compare Ps. xliii. 4, li. 15 (14). But the more
obvious construction above given is favoured by the collocation of the words.
and the analogy of Ps. 1. 7. Oil of joy (or gladness) is a figure borrowed
from the ancient oriental usage of anointing the head on festive occasions.
See above, on Ps. xxiii. 5. The expression is copied in Isa. lxi. 3. Above thy
fellows, more than thy companions, i. e. other men,or more specifically, other
kings. Compare what is said of Solomon, 1 Kings iii. 12, 13, 2 Chron. i. 12.
9 (8). Myrrh and aloes (and) cassia (are) all thy garments, from palaces
of ivory, from (thence) have they gladdened thee. The figure of unction in
the close of the preceding verse suggests the idea of perfumes and aromatic
substances, several of which are specified, as samples of the whole class,
which makes it comparatively unimportant, though by no means difficult,
to identify the species. His dress is described as so impregnated with
these odours, that it may be poetically said to be composed of them. By
another natural association, these perfumed garments, which were not
usually worn, suggest the idea of some rare festivity, and especially of that
which is most joyous in all countries. It is from marriage feasts in splendid
palaces that these sweet odours and these joyful feelings have been brought
away. Why more than one such celebration is referred to, will appear
below. Palaces of ivory, i. e. adorned with it, like that of Ahab in
1 Kings xxii. 39, and that of Menelaus in the Odyssey. That this kind
of luxury was not unknown in real life, may also be inferred from Amos
in. 15, vi. 4, Song of Sol. vii. 5 (4). The next word (yni.mi) is by some
explained as a contraction of (Myni.mi), a word meaning strings, and then
stringed instruments (Ps. cl. 4). From palaces of ivory stringed instruments have gladdened thee. But as this breaks the connection between
verses 8 and 10 (7 and 9), others make yni.mi the poetical form of the preposition Nmi, as it is in Ps. xliv. 11, 19 (10, 18), lxviii. 32 (31). See also,
Judges v. 14, and Isa. xlvi: 3. The repetition of the particle without the noun
is similar to that in Isa. lix. 18, according to their deeds, according to
(them) will he repay. So here, from palaces of ivory, from them (or thence)
VER. 9, 10.]
PSALM XLV.
205
have they gladdened thee. The plural verb may be construed indefinitely,
as tantamount to saying, thou hast been gladdened, or referred to a more
definite subject, namely, that presented in the next verse.
10 (9). Daughters of kings (are) among thy precious (ones); stationed is
the queen at thy right hand, in gold of Ophir. The idea of a marriage-feast,
suggested in the foregoing verse, is here carried out by a description of
the bride or brides. These are represented as being of the highest rank
and splendid in appearance. Precious, dear, not in the sense of beloved,
which the Hebrew word never has, but in that of costly, valuable, which it
always has. Stationed, not simply stands, but placed there, as the post of
honour. Compare 1 Kings ii. 19. The word translated queen means properly a spouse or consort, but is specially applied to the wives of kings,
particularly those of Babylonia (Dan. v. 2) and Persia (Neh. ii. 6). It is
here used as a poetical expression, which is also the case with the word
translated gold, and derived from a verb meaning to conceal; it may therefore denote ore, as hidden in the mine, or hoarded treasure. Here, and in
Isa. xiii. 12, it is combined with Ophir, one of the places to which Solomon's ships traded with the Phenicians (1 Kings ix. 28, x. 11, 2 Chron.
viii. 18, ix. 10). Its situation is disputed, and of no exegetical importance
in the case before us. Whether it was in India, Arabia, or Africa, it is
here mentioned only as an El Dorado, with the very name of which the idea
of gold was associated in the. mind of every Israelite, as it is in ours with
the name of California. In gold means, of course, in garments decked
with gold, or golden jewels. The image here presented of a queen surrounded by inferior princesses was probably borrowed from the court of
Solomon (1 Kings xi. 1), but employed to represent the chosen people as
the bride of the Messiah, and as such pre-eminent among the nations. This kind of
personification is not uncommon. See, for example, Isa. xlvii. 1, liv. 1, Jer. xlvi. 11.
11 (10). Hear, daughter, and see, and bend thine ear, and forget thy
people and the house of thy father. The Psalmist, in view of the ideal scene
which he has brought before us, utters a kind of nuptial exhortation to
the queen or chief bride of Messiah. Hear what I have to say; see, with the
mind's eye, what I set before thee, look at it, consider it. Incline thine
ear, lean forward as a sign of attention, so that nothing shall escape thee.
See above, on Ps. xvii. 6, xxxi. 3 (2). This preliminary summons to attend
implies that something of serious moment is to follow. The word daughter
may be simply used, as son is elsewhere, to suggest the relation of a junior
to a senior, or of a pupil to a teacher. See above, on Ps. xxxiv. 12 (11),
and compare Prov. i. 8, ii. 1, iii.1, iv. 1, &c. Or the Psalmist may be understood as speaking in the person of the bride's father, when about to part
with her; but this is less natural, since the father is referred to, in the last
clause, as a third person. Some suppose a specific reference to the
daughter of Zion as the real object of address, while others understand by
daughter a king's daughter, a royal princess, or suppose her to be here
addressed as one who was no longer to be treated as a daughter, but as a wife
and mother. As if he had said, "Hitherto thou hast been a daughter, but
now thou must forget thy father's house." All these ideas may have been
present to the writer's mind, as they are all spontaneously suggested to the
reader's. Forget thy people, &c., is a strong but natural and perfectly
intelligible mode of saying, form new relations, or accommodate thyself to
them when formed. There is obvious allusion to the law of marriage in
Gen. ii. 24, and to the calling of Abraham in Gen. xii. 1. What the
206
PSALM XLV.
[VER. 11, 12.
patriarch was there required to do is here enjoined upon his children in the
person of their ideal representative. The ancient church or chosen people is
required to come out from the world and be exclusively devoted to Jehovah.
The exhortation becomes still more pointed and significant when taken in connection
with the fact, that Solomon's wives, who seem to have supplied the figures for this
striking allegorical tableau, instead of acting on the principle here laid down, by adopting
the religion of their husband, "turned away his heart after other gods" (1 Kings xi. 4).
12 (11). And let the king desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord, and
(therefore) bow thyself to him. The common version (so shall the king
desire, &c.) is inconsistent with the form of the Hebrew verb, which is one
used to express a command or wish. The verse must be read in close
connection with the one before it. "Forget thy father's house and be entirely devoted to thy husband, so that his affection may be fixed upon
thee, without anything to hinder or impair it, such as a lingering desire for
thy previous condition." This is enjoined as a duty springing from the
very nature of the conjugal relation, in which the husband is the head by
divine right. Compare Gen. iii. 16, xviii. 12, 1 Pet. iii. 5, 6. In recognition of this obligation, she is called upon to bow down or prostrate herself (1 Sam. xxv. 41, 1 Kings i. 16, 31), a gesture both of civil and religious homage, and therefore peculiarly appropriate here, where the ideal
king and husband represents the real object of religious worship.
13 (12). And the daughter of Tyre with a gift thy face shall soften—the
rich of the people. In the Hebrew idiom the daughter of Tyre, or the
daughter (i. e. the virgin) Tyre denotes the city, or the population of the
city, personified as a woman. See above, on Ps. ix. 15 (14). It has been
proposed, indeed, to take this as a vocative (and O daughter of Tyre, the
rich of the people shall, &c.) addressed to Jezebel, in honour of whose marriage with Ahab (1 Kings xvi. 31) the psalm is then supposed to have been
written. But besides the harsh construction of the first words, and the
constant usage of the phrase and others like it in the sense explained above,
it is inconceivable that a poem in celebration of the marriage between a
wicked king of Israel and a heathen princess could have been composed by
the sons of Korah for permanent religious use in the kingdom of Judah.
And yet this is the only hypothesis, except the Messianic one, on which
the reference to Tyre can be explained. In the time of Solomon, the
Tyrians were the most commercial nation in the world, and the one with
which the Israelites had most commercial intercourse. It was natural,
therefore, to use Tyre as a type for the wealth and commerce of the world,
and the same mode of representation is employed by later writers. (See
especially Isa. xxiii. 18.) Thus understood, the promise that the daughter
of Tyre should seek, by means of gifts, to conciliate the favour of the
queen, is a prediction that the richest of the nations should seek union and
communion with the chosen people. See below, Ps. xlvii. 10 (9), 10,
lxxxvii. 4, in the last of which places Tyre is particularly mentioned. See
also Isa. lx. 6, Hag. ii. 7, 8, Zech. ix. 10. That the daughter of Tyre is
here an ideal person, comprehending many individuals, is clear from the
plural verb with which it is construed, and from the epexegetical clause,
the rich (i. e. the richest) of the people, whether this be understood to mean
the richest of that people, or the richest of the nations. In either case it
is an apposition with daughter of Tyre, and in some way explanatory of it.
"The daughter of Tyre, that richest of the nations (or the daughter of
Tyre, even the richest of that nation), shall entreat thy favour." This last
VER. 13-15.]
PSALM XLV.
207
idea is conveyed by a highly idiomatic phrase, meaning, as some suppose,
to stroke or soothe the face, and then, by a natural transition, to conciliate,
to flatter. Others obtain nearly the same sense by making it mean to
weaken, soften, or subdue the face, i. e. the opposition which the face expresses.
14 (13). All glorious (is) the king's daughter within; of gold embroidery
(is) her vesture. The second word in Hebrew may be either an adjective,
as in Ezek. xxiii. 41, or a substantive, as in Judges xviii. 21. All (i. e. altogether) splendid, or all splendour, i. e. containing nothing else, as the king's
garments are said, in ver. 9 (8) above, to be all perfume, and mankind in
Ps. xxxix. 6 (5), to be only all vanity. The local adverb in the first
clause means within doors, in the house (Lev. x. 18, 1 Kings vi. 18,
2 Kings vii. 11), and describes the bride as still awaiting her removal from
her father's to her husband's house. Gold embroidery, or network of gold.
The common version (wrought gold) conveys the false idea of a dress
entirely metallic, whereas the Hebrew phrase denotes some kind of artificial
texture or tissue, in which gold is interwoven.
15 (14). With (or on) variegated cloths shall she be conducted to the
king; virgins behind her, her companions, brought unto thee. The lively
picture of an oriental wedding is now completed by a view of the procession
to the bridegroom's house. The customary train of female friends is not
forgotten, but with this peculiar feature added, that the bridesmaids are
themselves described as brides, being brought (or made to come) to the king,
precisely as the queen was. This departure from the usages of real life,
which would have been revolting in a mere epithalamium, is peculiarly
appropriate to the design of the allegory, as it enables the writer to include
in his description a striking figurative representation of the eventful accession of the Gentiles to the spiritual privileges and prerogatives which for
ages were confined to Israel. The ancient church or peculiar people is the
chief bride or queen of the Messiah, chosen from among the nations; but
these very nations are the virgins, her companions, not her servants or
attendants merely, who are brought to the king afterwards as she was
brought before, to be united with him in an honourable marriage, not as
the inferiors but the equals of his first and chosen consort. The noun at
the beginning of the verse has been variously explained as meaning needlework, embroidery, and variegated stuffs; but the essential idea is sufficiently
clear, to wit, that of rich and highly ornamented fabrics. As the dress of
the bride has been twice described already, in ver. 10, 14 (9, 13), some
suppose that these words have allusion to the practice of spreading rich and
costly cloths or carpets on the ground where royal personages walk.
(Compare Mat. xxi. 8.) Others refer the clause to the embroidered coverings of the nuptial couch. The preposition here used is the one denoting
relation in the most indefinite manner, and may be translated in, upon, or
to, according to these different hypotheses respectively. See above, on
Ps. xxx. 2 (1), xxxv. 19, 24, xxxviii. 17 (16). Conducted, or escorted in
procession, as the Hebrew word denotes, being applied both to nuptial and
funeral pomps. Compare Job x. 19, xxi. 32. The king is first mentioned in the third person, and then in the second, by which insensible
transition the way is prepared for the direct address with which the psalm
concludes, although the third person is resumed for a moment in the
next verse.
16 (15). They shall be conducted with rejoicings and mirth; they shall
come into the palace of the king. The first clause exhibits the procession,
208
PSALM XLV.
[VER. 16, 17.
as it were, in motion, while the second brings it to its destination. As if
he had said, "I see the joyous train advancing; to the sound of merry
music, towards the palace; and now they reach it and are entered in."
This brings the description of the marriage to a close, and leaves nothing
to be added but the joyful anticipations expressed in the concluding verses.
17 (16). Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons; thou shalt set them for
princes in all the earth. In the translation, this might seem to be a renewed address to the bride, consoling her, in her separation from her
father's family, by the hope of having one herself. The antithesis, however, is not between parents and children in general, but between fathers
and sons in particular. Nor does the ambiguity of the translation exist in
the original, at least in the masoretic text, where the pointing of the suffixed
pronouns shews them to be masculine, so that the object of address must
be the king himself, as it is in ver. 3-11 (2-10). We have here another
allusion to the marriage customs of the ancient orientals, among whom it
was usual to wish the newly married pair a numerous and distinguished
offspring. See Gen. xxiv. 60, Ruth iv. 11, 12. This wish is here replaced
by a positive prediction, that the king's descendants shall be more illustrious than his progenitors. Such a comparison would have but little
force, however, unless he were himself descended from a long line of royal
ancestors, a sufficient proof that the king here glorified was neither Solomon
nor Ahab. At the same time there is obvious allusion to the state of things
under the reign of Solomon, who divided his kingdom into twelve viceroyalties (1 Kings iv. 7), and that of David, who made his own sons
viceroys (2 Sam. viii. 18), a policy which seems to have been still pursued
by Rehoboam (2 Chron. xi. 23). What they did on a small scale, the
Messiah is to do upon a large one. As they made their sons princes in
Israel, so he shall make his to be rulers over the whole earth. Some,
indeed, translate the last words all the land; but this is inconsistent with
the conquests promised in ver. 5-7 (4-6), with the mention of Tyre in
ver. 14 (13), and with that of nations in ver. 18 (17). The sons of Messiah are his spiritual seed (Isa. liii. 10), to set whom for princes is to constitute or make them such, to give them places suited to their royal rank.
The universal reign here predicted is also promised in Ps. ii. 8 above and
Ps. lxxii. 11, below. Compare Zech. ix. 10.
18 (17). I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations; therefore shall nations acknowledge thee for ever and ever. The Psalmist speaks
as one in the long series of inspired heralds, and in behalf of all. The
form of the first verb implies fixed determination, and involves a pledge.
Thy name, as the expression of thy nature. See above, on Ps. v. 12 (11),
xliv. 21 (20). In all generations, literally in every generation and generation. For ever and ever, literally to eternity and perpetuity. See above,
on Ps. xliv. 9, 24 (8, 23). Therefore, not merely because I celebrate his
name, but because his name itself is glorious. Acknowledge thee to be
what thou art, involving therefore the ideas of praise in general and thanksgiving in particular. See above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5), xliv. 9 (8).
PSALM XLVI.
THE Church is safe under divine protection. This theme is amplified in
three strophes, the close of which is indicated by the selahs in ver. 4 (3),
8 (7), 12 (11). If the psalm owed its origin to any particular historical
VER. 1-3.]
PSALM XLVI.
209
occasion, of which there seem to be some traces in the last part, there is
none to which it would be more appropriate than the miraculous destruction of the Assyrian host in the reign of Hezekiah (2 Kings xix. 35, Isa.
xxxvii. 36), as this was a signal instance of divine interposition for the deliverance of
the chosen people, and peculiarly adapted to exalt the God of Israel among the nations.
1. To the Chief Musician. To the Sons of Korah. Upon Alamoth. A
song. The Sons of Korah may here be mentioned either as the authors or
performers of the psalm. (See above, on Ps. xlii. 1, xlv. 1). In either
case, we are perhaps to understand the Sons of Korah in the reign of Hezekiah. Some have ascribed the psalm to Isaiah; but of this there is no
evidence. Alamoth means virgins or a youn women, and is here used as a
technical expression of the Hebrew music, to denote soprano or treble voices.
See above, on Ps. iv. 1, vi. 1.
2 (1). God (is) for us a refuge and strength; a help in distresses he has
proved—exceedingly. The first clause states the general theme or proposition of the psalm; the last asserts it to have been established by experience.
A refuge, a hiding-place, a place where men seek shelter and security from
impending danger. The original expression is a local noun derived from a
verb, the primary sense of which is to take refuge. (See above, on Ps.
ii. 12, xvi. 1). A different word is so translated in ver. 8, 12 (7, 11), below. In this connection, strength may mean a stronghold or fortified place,
which figure is expressly used in Ps. xviii. 3 (2), xxvii. 1, and elsewhere.
Or it may simply mean the source or author of strength, as in Ps. xxviii. 8,
and elsewhere. In distresses: the plural form may involve a reference to
various occasions, or to complex and aggravated troubles in some one case.
He has proved, literally been found, i. e. by us, in our experience. The
common version (a present help) is scarcely justified by the occasional use
of the original expression in the sense of being present or forthcoming. The
last word, very or exceedingly, appears to have been added to qualify the
whole clause or proposition, as one eminently and emphatically true.
3 (2). Therefore we will not fear in the changing of the earth, and in the
moving of mountains in the heart of seas. The simple idea expressed by
these strong figures is, in the midst of the most violent changes and commotions. By the changing or exchanging of the earth (see above, on Ps.
xv. 4), we may understand either its change of place, violent removal, or
more probably a change of face and aspect or condition, as the effect of
mighty revolutions. In its changing, i. e. when it changes and because it
changes. See above, on Ps. xlii. 4 (3). The mountains, as appears from
ver. 7 (6) below, are emblems of great kingdoms and powerful states. See
above, on Ps. xxx. 8 (7), and compare Isa. xxxvii. 24, Rev. viii. 8. The
sea may be mentioned only as the place to which the mountains are transplanted (Luke xvii. 6), or in which they are shaken; but it may also be a
specific emblem of the world, continually moved and agitated by the strife
of human passions. See Isa. lvii. 20, and compare Isa. xxvii. 1, Dan.
vii. 2, 3. This description is peculiarly appropriate to the commotions
necessarily produced by the extensive conquests of the great empires of the
ancient world, perhaps with special reference in this case to Assyria.
4 (3). Let its waters roar and foam, let mountains tremble in its swelling.
Selah. The singular pronoun refers to the sea, which is only poetically
plural in the preceding verse. The verb translated roar occurs above in Ps.
xxxix. 7 (6). The one translated foam means strictly to ferment or effervesce. As the word rendered swelling is also used elsewhere in the figura-
210
PSALM XLVI.
[VER. 4-8.
tive sense of pride, it is peculiarly appropriate to the commotions of the
world, occasioned by the pride of man. The verbs in this verse may also
be explained as proper futures. Its waters shall (indeed) roar and foam,
the hills shall tremble at its swelling; but the people of God shall still be
safe, as promised in the next verse. The selah, as usual, indicates a pause in the
performance, and at the same time marks the close of the first stanza or strophe.
5 (4). (There is) a river—its streams shall gladden the city of God, the
holy (place) of the dwellings of the Highest. In contrast with the turbulent
and threatening sea, he now presents a peaceful and abundant river. This
emblem of God's favour, which is frequent in the Scriptures, seems to have
been borrowed by the later writers from the river of Eden, Gen. ii. 10. See
above, on Ps. xxxvi. 9 (8), and compare Ezek. xlvii. 1, Joel iv. (iii.) 18,
Zech. xiv. 8, Rev. xxii. 1. The city of God, i. e. Jerusalem, his earthly
residence, and the centre of the theocracy. See below, Ps. xlviii. 2, 3
(1, 2). The holy (place) may either mean the same thing, or be a more specific
designation of the temple. See below, Ps. lxv. 5 (4), and compare Exod.
xxix. 31, Lev. vi. 9, 19 (16, 26). The place rendered holy by the presence
of God's earthly residence. The Highest or Most High, the divine name
which denotes God's infinite superiority to other beings. See above, Ps.
vii. 18 (17), ix. 3 (2), xxi. 8 (7). The mention of streams in the plural
indicates variety and fulness of divine favour.
6 (5). God (is) in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help
her at the turning of the morning. This last idiomatic phrase seems to mean,
at the point when the day turns to come back, after reaching its greatest
distance. See Exod. xiv. 27, Judges xix. 26, and compare Deut. xxiii.
12 (11). The idea is that of a critical transition from grief to joy. See
Ps. xxx. 6 (5), xlix. 15 (14), xc. 14, cx. 8. The terms of this verse become still more significant and striking, if we suppose a specific reference to
the night in which Sennacherib's host was smitten, and the sight which was
disclosed at break of day. See Isa. xxxvii. 36, and compare Isa. xvii. 14.
7 (6). Nations roared, kingdoms quaked; he has uttered his voice, the
earth will melt. There is here an allusion to the roaring, foaming sea of
ver. 4 (3). Uttered, literally gave (a sound) with his voice, just as we may
speak of giving a groan or a shriek. Compare Ps. lxviii. 34 (33), Jer.
xii. 8. This voice is not represented as assuaging the commotion, but increasing it, by making the very earth dissolve. As in many other instances,
the psalmist takes his stand between the inception and the consummation
of the. event which he describes. Hence the transition from the past tense
to the future. See above, on Ps. xviii. 7 (6). With the last clause compare Ps. lxxv. 4 (3), Amos ix. 6. God is represented as the ultimate author
of these mighty changes. See Haggai ii. 21, 22.
8 (7). Jehovah of Hosts (is) with us; a refuge for us (is) the God of
Jacob. Selah. Notwithstanding these commotions and dangers, the
divine protection makes us perfectly secure. Jehovah of Hosts, the God of
the Universe, and especially of heaven. See above, on Ps. xxiv. 10, and
below, on Ps. xlviii. 9 (8). With us. Compare the name Immanuel, Isa.
viii. 8. A refuge, literally a high place, a place beyond the reach of enemies and dangers. See above, on Ps. ix. 10 (9), xviii. 3 (2). God of
Jacob. See above, oh Ps. xxiv. 6.
9 (8). Come, see the doings of Jehovah, who hath put desolations in the
earth. The first word properly means go, but is constantly used in summoning and inviting others. See above, Ps. xxxiv. 12 (11). The doings,
VER. 9-11.]
PSALM XLVI.
211
what he has been doing. The common version, what desolations he hath
made, is not so natural as that above given, which takes the relative in its
proper sense, and refers it to the nearest antecedent. Put (or placed) desolations, i. e. produced, occasioned, caused them to exist in the earth,
because the ruling power of the world was smitten; or in the land, i. e. the
Holy Land, as the immediate scene of God's retributive judgments, which
all men are invited now to witness. The use of the name Jehovah intimates that
the God who thus controls the world is identical with the God of Israel.
10 (9). Silencing wars to the end of the earth; the bow he will break, and
cut the spear, and the chariots will burn in the fire. The participle, followed
by the future, she ws that the process is not finished, but still going on.
Silencing, making to cease. To the end. The original expression is a
stronger one, and means up to the end, or to the very end. The bow, spear,
and chariots, are named as necessary instruments of warfare. See above,
on Ps. vii. 13 (12), and with the whole verse compare Isa. ii. 4, Mic. iv. 3,
Josh. xi. 9, Ezek. xxxix. 9.
11 (10). Leave off, and know that I (am) God; I will be exalted in the
nations, I will be exalted in the earth. These words are addressed to the
discomfited foes of Jehovah and his people. "Cease from your vain
attacks upon my people; learn from what you have already seen and felt
that their protector is divine, and that he is resolved to be acknowledged as
supreme, not only by his chosen people, but by all the nations and
throughout the earth." This general recognition of Jehovah as the true
and the supreme God, would of course be promoted by such a signal overthrow as that experienced by Sennacherib. Compare Isa. xxxvii. 20.
12 (11). Jehovah of Hosts (is) with us; a refuge for us (is) the God of
Jacob. Selah. This repetition of the burden or refrain in ver. 8 (7),
brings us back not only to the close of the second stanza, but to the beginning of the first, where the same idea is expressed in other words.
PSALM XLVII.
1. To the Chief Musician. To the Sons of Korah. A Psalm. A song
of triumph, in celebration of a signal victory gained by the chosen people
over certain confederated nations. In the first stanza, ver. 2-5 (1-4),
Jehovah is celebrated as the conqueror of the nations; in the second, ver.
6-10 (5-9), as their rightful sovereign; in both, as the tutelary God of
Israel. Another difference of form between the two parts seems to be,
that in the first, the exhortation to praise God is addressed directly to the
Gentiles; in the second, to Israel or the ancient church. The psalm has
every appearance of having been composed in reference to some particular
event; but as this is not indicated in the psalm itself, it can only be conjectured. Of the various suppositions which have been suggested, the
most probable is, that it was written to commemorate the victory of Jehoshaphat over the Ammonites and Edomites, recorded in the twentieth chapter
of Second Chronicles. Besides the general appropriateness of the composition to the juncture there described, it is, to say the least, a very singular
coincidence, that the history records the presence, upon that occasion,
not only of Levites in general, but of the Korhites (sons of Korah) in particular (2 Chron. xx. 19). We read too that singers went before the army
(ver. 21), and that on the fourth day they assembled in a valley which they
212
PSALM XL VII.
[VER.1-6.
called Berachah (blessing), because there they blessed the Lord (ver. 26).
There is also something in the simple, animated, flowing style of the psalm
before us which agrees very well with the supposition of its being an inspired impromptu, a psalm composed upon the spur of the occasion, either
by some anonymous prophet who accompanied the army, or by the Sons of
Korah themselves. See above, on Ps. xlii. 1. This conjecture, as to the
historical occasion of the psalm before us, is corroborated by the apparent
relation of the next psalm to the same event. See below, on Ps. xlviii. 1.
2 (1). All nations, clap the hand! shout unto God with a voice of
triumph! The clapping of the hands is a natural gesture both of triumph
and applause. See Nah. iii. 19, and compare Ps. xcviii. 8, Isa. Iv. 12. The
last word in the verse does not denote a feeling, but the audible expression
of joy and exultation, by song or shout. See above, on Ps. v. 12 (11).
The nations addressed are not the particular nations which had just been
conquered, but the whole gentile world, the nations collectively, who are
summoned to rejoice in the proof just afforded, that Jehovah is their
rightful sovereign. See above, on Ps. xviii. 50 (49), and below, on Ps.
lxvi. 4 (3), cxvii. 1, and compare the original expression upon which this
is modelled, Deut. xxxii. 43.
3 (2). For Jehovah, Most High, is terrible, a great king over all the
earth. He is not, as the heathen were disposed to imagine, a mere local
deity, the God of the Hebrews only, but the God of the whole earth, the
Universal Sovereign, and an object of fear to its inhabitants. See the
same epithet applied to him in Ps. lxviii. 36 (35).
4 (3). He will subdue nations under us, and peoples under our feet. This
is a proof both of his covenant relation to his people, and of his sovereign
power over other nations. What he has done is but an earnest of what he
will do. Compare Ps. xviii. 39 (38), 48 (47). This, though not a matter
of rejoicing to the nations immediately concerned, may well be represented
as a matter of rejoicing to the world at large, because it involves a promise that the Gentiles shall one day be included among the subjects of this
divine protector, and partakers of his favour.
5 (4). He will choose for us our heritage, the pride of Jacob whom he loved.
Selah. By defeating the enemies who sought to expel Israel from the land
of promise (2 Chron. xx. 11), God might be poetically said to settle them
again therein, and, as at first, to choose their inheritance for them. The
pride of Jacob, that of which he is proud, in which he glories, whether this
be understood specifically of the Holy Land, or generically of all the privileges and distinctions which belonged to them as the peculiar people of
Jehovah. Pride, exaltation, or distinction, as in Nah. ii. 3 (2), Amos
vi. 8. In Amos viii. 7, God himself is so described. Jacob, as in Ps. xxiv. 6, xlvi.
8 (7), 12 (11). Whom he loved. See Mal. i. 2, and compare Ps. lxxviii. 68.
6 (5). God has gone up with shouting, Jehovah with, sound of trumpet.
He is here described as returning to heaven after the conquest of his enemies
and the rescue of his people, as in Ps. vii. 8 (7), he does the same, after
sitting in judgment on the nations, and asserting the right of his own
people. See Ps. lxviii. 19 (18), and compare Gen. xvii. 22, Judges xiii. 20.
The shouting and sound of the trumpet represents the ascension as a public
and triumphant one. The ideal scene is typical of the actual ascension of
our Saviour. See below, on Ps. lxviii. 19 (18).
7 (6). Sing praises (to) God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King,
sing praises! The Hebrew corresponding to sing praises is a single word
VER. 7- 9.]
PSALM XLVII.
213
(Urm;.za), which means to praise musically, both with voice and instrument.
See above, on Ps. ix. 3, (2). God, who is first mentioned as the object of
the praise, is then described as our King, the actual King of Israel and the
rightful King of all the earth.
8 (7). For King of all the earth (is) God. Perform a maschil, i. e. sing
and play a didactic psalm. See above, on Ps. xxxii. 1, xlii. 1, xliv. 1,
xlv. 1. The maschil here meant is the psalm itself. The designation may
have been omitted in the title for the very reason that it is contained in the
body of the composition. The doctrine taught is that of Jehovah's universal sovereignty, and of the ultimate subjection of all nations to his peaceful
sway. This idea is realised in the reign of the Messiah, so that the psalm
is, in a wide sense, Messianic. The peculiar import of this last clause is
lost in the common version (sing ye praises with understanding), which is
also that of the Septuagint (Ya<late sunetw?j), the Vulgate (psallite sapienter), and Jerome (canite erudite).
9 (8). God hath reigned over the nations, God hath sat down on his throne
of holiness. He has begun to reign, has become a king, and as such has
ascended the throne of universal empire. This and the next verse may be
specially regarded as constituting the maschil mentioned in ver. 8 (7). The
throne of his holiness, his holy throne, i. e. his divine throne, his throne unlike and above all others. See above, on Ps. xxii. 4 (3), and below, on Ps.
ciii. 19, and compare Isa. vi. 1, lxvi. 1.
10 (9). Princes of nations are assembled—the people of the God of Abraham; for unto God belong the shields of the earth; he is greatly exalted.
The first word properly means willing, and especially spontaneous givers;
then by a natural deduction, liberal, generous, noble, and as a substantive,
nobles, princes. They are here named as the representatives of the nations,
gathered in the presence of God, to do him homage and acknowledge his
supremacy. The next phrase may mean either as, with, or to the people of
God, most probably the first. The God of Abraham, their founder and progenitor, with whom the covenant was made, not only for himself but for
his children. See the same phrase, Gen. xxxi. 42, Exod. iii. 6, Mat.
xxii. 32. The shields of the earth, its protectors, here put for protection in
the abstract, or for the princes mentioned in the foregoing clause. Compare Hos. iv. 18. It is not till all the principalities and powers of earth
acknowledge their subjection to Jehovah, that he can be duly and sufficiently
exalted. See above, on Ps. xxii. 29 (28).
PSALM XLVIII.
1. A Psalm. A Song. To the Sons of Korah. The generic term psalm
(mizmôr) is rendered more specific by the addition of song (shir), which
commonly denotes a song of praise. See above, on Ps. xlii. 9 (8). It is
further described as (belonging) to the Sons of Korah, either as authors or
performers. See above, on Ps. xlii. 1. The psalm before us celebrates
Jehovah, and Jerusalem as his residence, ver. 2-4 (1-3), with particular
reference to a recent deliverance from certain confederate kings, ver. 5-9
(4-8), which is recognised as a subject of perpetual praise, ver. 10-15
(9-14). The most probable conjecture as to the historical occasion of the
psalm is, that it has reference to the same event that is commemorated in
the one before it. This is the more probable, as we learn from 2 Chron.
xx. 19, 27, that Jehoshaphat and his followers first praised God for their
214
PSALM XLVIII.
[VER. 1-6.
deliverance on or near the field of battle, and then again in the temple after
their return to Jerusalem. The psalm before us was probably written for
the latter purpose.
2 (1). Great (is) Jehovah, and to be praised exceedingly, in the city of
our God, his holy mountain. This verse propounds, as the theme of the
whole psalm, the glory of Jehovah as revealed to his own people. To be
praised: see above, on Ps. xviii. 4 (3). The paronomasia, great and greatly
to be praised, is not in the original, where the words translated great and.
greatly in the English Bible, are entirely different both in form and etymology. The city of our God: see above, on Ps. xlvi. 5 (4). The parallel
expression, the mountain of his holiness, his mountain of holiness, his holy
mountain, is intended to convey the same idea, Jerusalem in general and.
Zion in particular being here referred to as the seat of the theocracy, the
place where God resided in the midst of his peculiar people, as their king
and their tutelary deity, and where the duty of praising him was therefore
peculiarly incumbent.
3 (2). Beautiful for elevation, the joy of the whole earth, Mount Zion, (on).
the sides of the north, the city of the great king. The common version,
situation, although not erroneous, is too vague. The reference is to the
lofty site of Jerusalem, as seen from the surrounding country. It is called
the joy of the whole earth, as a source of spiritual blessings to all nations.
The sides of the north may mean the northern division of the city, and be
joined with Zion, which was in the southern part, in order to express the
whole. Or as the word here rendered sides always denotes the extreme
edge or frontier, it may here be used to describe the appearance of the
Holy City, as it rose upon the view of the army returning from the south.
Either of these is a more natural interpretation than the modern one, which
supposes an allusion to the heathen notion of a mountain in the extreme
north, where the gods resided, to which belief there is supposed to be a
reference in Isa. xiii. 14.
4 (3). God in her palaces is known for a refuge. In this, his chosen
seat, he has revealed himself already, as the protector of his people. See
below, on Ps. lxxvi. 2 (1).
5 (4). For lo, the kings met—they passed away together. They had no
sooner come together than they disappeared together. Lo or behold, as
usual, indicates something unexpected. The definite expression, the kings,
seems to refer to something recent and well-known. The kings originally
meant were those of Moab and Edom. The word translated met means to
come together by appointment or agreement, and here implies a combination against
Judea. Compare Ps. lxxxiii. 4-6 (3-5). Passed away, fled or disappeared.
6 (5). (As) they saw, so they wondered, were struck with terror, were put
to flight. This verse explains what was meant by their passing in the on
before it. The as, corresponding to so, which is expressed in ver. 9 (8),
seems to be here omitted, as in Isa. lv. 9. As soon as they saw the holy
city, or the tokens of divine protection. The last two verbs are passives.
For the meaning of the first, see above, on Ps. ii. 5, and for that of the
second, on Ps. xxxi. 23 (22). The whole verse is descriptive of a panic
leading to a disorderly retreat or flight.
7 (6). Trembling seized them there, pain as of a travailing (woman).
There, i. e. on the very spot of their anticipated triumph. See above, on
Ps. xiv. 5. Or on the spot from which they first obtained a sight of Jerusalem. This may have been Tekoa (2 Chron. xx. 20), the lofty site of
VER. 7-11.]
PSALM XLVIII.
215
which commands an extensive prospect. See Robinson's Palestine, ii. 182.
The comparison in the last clause is a common one in Scripture, to denote
intense but transient pain. Compare Isa. xiii. 8, xxi. 3, xlii. 14.
8 (7). With an east wind thou wilt break ships of Tarshish. It is an
interesting coincidence that such a disaster did befall the navy of Jehoshaphat himself. See I Kings xxii. 49 (48), 2 Chron. xx. 36, 37. Some
suppose this to be specifically meant in the case before us, while others
understand it as a figurative description of God's sovereign control over all
inferior agents. The east wind seems to be mentioned as the one most to
be dreaded in the neighbouring seas. The trade to Tarshish and Ophir
was almost the only maritime commerce known to the contemporary Hebrews. See 2 Chron. ix. 21, and compare Isa. ii. 16, xxiii. 1, 14; lx. 9.
9 (8). As we have heard, so have we seen, in the city of Jehovah of Rests,
in the city of our God. God will confirm it to eternity. Selah. What
they had heard of as occurring elsewhere or in ancient times, they had now
witnessed for themselves. See above, on Ps. xliv. 2 (1), and compare Job
xlii. 5. Jehovah of Hosts; see above, on Ps. xxiv. 10. God will confirm
it, or establish her, i. e. Jerusalem, the city of our God. He will secure it
against all such assaults as it has just escaped. As Jerusalem is here
regarded not as a mere town, but as the seat of the theocracy, the earthly
residence of God, the promise is still valid, in its strongest sense, with.respect to the
church, of which the ancient Zion was the constituted type and local centre.
10 (9). We have compared, O God, thy mercy in the midst of thy temple.
The verb in this verse sometimes means to meditate, but scarcely ever, if
at all, without some reference to its primary sense of likening or comparing.
It may here denote the act of comparing what they saw with what they had
previously heard, as in the foregoing verse. In the midst of (i. e. within)
thy temple, literally thy palace, a term applied both to the tabernacle and
the temple, as the royal residence of Jehovah. See above, on Ps. v. 8 (7),
xi. 4, xviii. 7 (6), xxvii. 4, xxix. 9. This expression agrees well with the
supposition, that this psalm was intended to be sung at the temple after
the return of the army. See 2 Chron. xx. 27.
11 (10). As thy name, O God, so is thy praise, to the ends of the earth;
(of) righteousness full is thy right hand. The most obvious meaning of the
first clause would seem to be that wherever God is known he is praised.
Some, however, understand by name the previous manifestations of God's
nature, and by praise the glory due to his most recent interposition in behalf
of his people. The sense will then be still the same as in ver. 9 (8), namely,
that what the contemporary Israelites had heard of God's wonderful works
in time past they had now seen and felt in their own experience. To the
ends of the earth, literally on or over them, which may be a poetical hyperbole describing the fame of these events as already gone beyond the
boundaries of earth. See below on ver. 15 (14). Righteousness, that of
God, as manifested in the destruction of his enemies and the rescue of his
people. See above, on Ps. xxxv. 28. This is said to fill his right hand,
i. e. to be abundantly displayed in the exercise of his almighty power. See
above, on Ps. xvi. 11.
12 (11). Rejoice shall Mount Zion, exult shall the daughters of Judah,
because of thy judgments. According to a very ancient usage, which is
found even in the prose of technical geography (Josh. xv. 45, 47), the
daughters of Judah may be the minor towns dependent on Jerusalem. The
more obvious sense is that of female inhabitants, who, as the weaker sex,
216
PSALM XLVIII.
[VER. 12-14.
had particular occasion to rejoice in the deliverance of the country from its
barbarous invaders. The verbs may be understood as expressive of a wish
or prayer (let mount Zion rejoice, &c.). But the proper future sense agrees
better with what immediately precedes, as the declaration of the glory,
which has already redounded to the name of God from this exhibition of
his power and faithfulness, is then followed up by a declaration, that the
same effect shall be continued. For the sake (or on account) of thy judgments, these
experimental proofs of thy righteousness, afforded by its actual exercise.
13 (12). Surround Zion and encircle her; count her towers. The verbs
in the first clause mean to walk (or go) around. They are twice used
together in the history of the taking of Jericho (Josh. vi. 3, 11). The
second occurs above in Ps. xvii. 9, xxii. 17 (16). The object of the walk
here proposed is to survey the perfect state of her defences, as untouched
by the recent dangers. Compare Isa. xxxiii. 20. Count her towers, to see
if any of them have been demolished.
14 (13). Set your heart to her rampart, examine her palaces, that you,
may recount (it) to a generation following. The meaning of the first phrase
is, apply your mind, give attention, observe closely. The word translated
rampart seems to denote the exterior circumvallation, here contrasted with
the palaces which it surrounded. Recount it, i. e. the result of your inspection, or the sound state of the defences, both as a reminiscence of this
particular deliverance, and as a type or emblem of the safety which the
church enjoys under divine protection, and therefore entitled to perpetual
remembrance. The last word in Hebrew is not a participle but an adjective, strictly meaning later or latter, subsequent or future.
15 (14). For this God (is) our God for ever and ever; he will guide us
unto death. The for assigns a reason for representing this event as one to
be remembered, namely, because it is an instance of the favour of Jehovah,
who is our perpetual defender. The whole may be thrown into a single
sentence, without supplying is in the first clause. For this God, our God,
for ever and ever, he will guide, &c. Or still more in accordance with the
usual construction of the pronoun (hz,), this is our God for ever and ever,
i. e. he who has done this is and is to be our God. According to the other
and more usual construction, this God means the God who has performed.
these wonders. For ever and ever, literally eternity and perpetuity. See,
above, on Ps. ix. 6 (5), x. 16, xxi. 5 (4), xlv. 7 (6). Unto death, or as
some explain it, at death, i. e. he will save us from it; others, over death,
beyond it. But the most obvious explanation, and the one most agreeable
to usage, is that which makes the phrase mean even to the end of life, or
as lono, as we live. The idea of a future state, though not expressed, is not
excluded. See above, on Ps. xvii. 15.
PSALM XLIX.
1. To the Chief Musician. To the Sons of Borah. A Psalm. This
psalm, like the thirty-seventh, is intended to console the righteous under
the trials arising from the prosperity and enmity of wicked men, by shewing
these to be but temporary, and by the prospect of a speedy change in the
relative position of the parties. It consists of a short introductory stanza,
inviting general attention to the subject, ver. 2-5 (1-4), followed by two
VER. 1-5.]
PSALM XLIX.
217
longer stanzas, the close of which is marked by the recurrence of a burden
or refrain in ver. 13 (12) and 21 (20). In the first of these two divisions,
the prominent idea is the fallacy of all merely secular advantages and hopes,
ver. 6-13 (5-12). In the other, these advantages and hopes are directly
contrasted with those of the believer, ver. 14-21 (13-20). There is nothing
in the psalm to determine its date or historical occasion. The inscription
to the Sons of Korah is consistent with any date from the time of David to
that of Ezra. See above, on Ps. xlii. 1, xliv. 1, xlv. 1, xlvi. 1, xlvii. 1, xlviii. 1. In favour
of an earlier date, however, may be urged the obscurity and difficulty of the style.
2 (1). Hear this, all the nations; give ear, all inhabitants of the world!
This general invocation implies that the doctrine to be taught is one of
universal interest. The form of expression is similar to that in Micah i. 2
and 1 Kings xxii. 28, and may be borrowed, in all these cases, from the
still stronger one in Deut. xxxii. 1. See below; Ps. 1.1, and compare Isa.
i. 2. The word translated world means primarily duration or continued
existence; then more specifically, human life, the present state of things;
and by a natural transition, the world, as the place where it is spent. See
above, on Ps. xvii. 14, xxxix. 6 (5), and below, on Ps. lxxxix. 48 (47).
3 (2). Both low and high together, rich and poor This is the conclusion
of the sentence begun in the preceding verse. The first clause is highly
idiomatic in its form, and cannot be literally rendered into intelligible
English. Likewise sons of man, likewise sons of man. The word man here
corresponds to two distinct Hebrew words which, when placed in opposition,
denote men of high and low degree. See above, on Ps. v. 3 (2), and below,
on Ps. lxii. 10 (9), and compare Prov. viii. 4. The same antithesis is presented in a different form, Ps. xxii. 30 (29). The rich are here summoned
to receive reproof and warning, the poor consolation and encouragement.
4 (3). My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart (is)
understanding. This is no self-praise, as he is only to communicate what he
has received. Shall speak, is speaking or about to speak. Wisdom and
understanding are both plural in the Hebrew, that form denoting fulness or
variety. See above, on Ps. xviii. 51 (50). The plural of the first word is
also applied to the personification of the highest wisdom, in Prov. ix. 1.
The speech mentioned in the first clause is the outward expression of the
thought or meditation in the second. See the same combination above,
Ps. v. 2 (1), xix. 15 (14).
5 (4). I will incline to a parable my ear, and open with a harp my riddle.
I will hear what God says, and impart it to others. To incline (or bend)
the ear is to lean forward as a sign or gesture of attention. See above, on
Ps. xvii. 6, xxxi. 3 (2), xl. 2 (1). Parable, literally likeness or comparison;
then any figurative, tropical expression. See above, on Ps. xliv. 15 (14).
The parallel word here means an enigma, something hard to understand.
To open it is not to begin it, but either to utter it or to explain it, probably
the latter. What he hears from God he will open or expound to man.
With the harp indicates the form in which his exposition is to be presented,
namely, that of a lyrical composition, intended to be sung with an instrumental accompaniment. See above, on Ps. xxxiii. 2, xlvii. 4.
6 (5). Why should I fear in days of evil, (when) the iniquity of my oppressors (or supplanters) shall surround me? The theme of the whole psalm is
the negative proposition involved in this interrogation, namely, that the
righteous has no cause to fear, even when surrounded by powerful and
spiteful enemies. Days of evil, i. e. of misfortune or distress. The word
218
PSALM XLIX.
[VER. 6-10.
translated oppressors commonly means heels; but as this yields no good sense
here, it may be taken as a verbal noun, meaning either treaders, tramplers,
oppressors, or supplanters, traitors, in a sense akin to which the verbal root
is used, Gen. xxvii. 36, Hos. xii. 4 (3). In either case, it is clearly a
description of his enemies, as practising violence or fraud against him.
7 (6). Those relying on their strength, and in the abundance of their wealth
they glory. A further description of the oppressors and supplanters. The
Hebrew word translated strength is applied, in different cases, to bodily,
pecuniary, military, and moral strength. The parallelism here would seem
to indicate a reference to the power which naturally springs from great possessions. The word translated abundance may also mean increase. For
the use of the verbal root, see above, on Ps. iii. 2 (1). Glory, boast, or
praise themselves, which last is the exact sense of the reflexive verb here used.
8 (7). A brother can not (or he shall not) even redeem; a man can not give
to God his ransom. In the first clause, brother may be either the subject
or the object of the verb; the rich man cannot redeem his brother, or,
his brother cannot redeem him. The former agrees better with the obvious
design to shew the worthlessness of mere wealth, which does not enable
a man to redeem a brother, i. e. save another's life. The even in this version is intended to express the emphatic repetition of the verb in Hebrew.
It cannot do that which is most essential, and without which other advantages are worthless. Unless the last clause be regarded as a mere reiteration of the same idea in other words, it must be understood to mean that
as the rich man cannot redeem his brother from the inevitable stroke of
death, much less can he redeem himself, or pay to God his own ransom.
This construction of the last words is the less unnatural, because there is
properly no reflexive pronoun in the Hebrew language. See above, on
Ps. xxxvi. 3 (2).
9 (8). And costly is the ransom of their soul, and he (or it) ceases for ever.
This obscure verse admits of several constructions. Their soul refers most
probably to the rich man and his brother. The soul or life of both requires
so much to ransom it, that neither can redeem the other. The verb in the
last clause may mean ceases to live, perishes, and agree with either or with
each of the subjects previously mentioned. The ransom of their life is so
costly, that neither can be saved. Or the verb may agree with ransom,
as in the English Bible; it is too costly to be paid, and therefore ceases,
or remains unpaid, for ever. The same sense substantially may be obtained
by making cease mean cease (or fail) to pay, and construing it with one of
the preceding nouns. The ransom is so costly that he fails to pay it, or
ceases to attempt it, for ever. Upon any of these various suppositions,
the essential idea is that the ransom of their life is too expensive to be
paid.
10 (9). That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption. The
form of the first verb in Hebrew shews that this is a dependent sentence,
to be immediately connected, as some think, with the ninth verse: "he cannot even redeem a brother, a man cannot pay to God a ransom, so as to
live for ever and not see corruption." The tenth verse is then a parenthetical
amplification of the ninth. Others connect the ninth and tenth directly, by
taking cease to mean that he cannot bring to pass. The redemption of their
soul is too costly; he can never so contrive it, that he shall live for ever
and not see corruption.
11 (10). For he shall see (it); wise (men) must die; likewise the fool and
VER. 11, 12.]
PSALM XLIX.
219
brute must perish, and leave to others their substance. The usual construction of the first words—when he sees (or for he sees) that wise men die
—is neither so simple in itself, nor so well suited to the context, as that
which gives the verb the same sense, and the same object, as in the preceding verse. Wealth cannot ransom its possessor, so that he shall live
for ever and not see corruption, for he shall see it, as all others do. Even
the wisest men must die, much more the fool and brutish person. These
are the terms so frequently used in the Book of Proverbs to describe the
sinner as irrational. See above, on Ps. xiv. 1, and compare Prov. i. 32, x. 1,
xii. 1, xxx. 2, Eccles. ii. 16. In the use of the verbs die and perish, there may be an
intentional allusion to the different destiny of the wise and foolish. Likewise, or more
literally together, at the same time. See above, Ps. iv. 9 (8), and compare Isa. i. 28.
Substance, strength, pecuniary strength, the same word that is used in ver 7 (6) above.
12 (11). Their inward thought (is that) their houses (shall continue)
for ever, their dwellings to generation and generation: they call their lands
by their own names. This is substantially the common version, which is
here retained because it yields a good sense, and is as probable as any
other explanation of this very obscure verse. The first word in Hebrew
strictly means the inside of anything, and especially of man, i. e. his mind
or heart, particularly as distinguished from his words or outward conduct.
See above, on Ps. v. 10 (9), and below, on Ps. lxiv. 7 (6). The plural
form at the end of the sentence occurs nowhere else, but corresponds to our
word grounds, when applied to cultivated lands. As the singular, however, though it commonly means ground, seems occasionally to denote
a land or country, some understand the clause to mean that they (i. e. men
indefinitely) proclaim (or celebrate) their names over lands, i. e. throughout
various countries. Another possible, though not a probable construction,
makes the last two words mean upon earth, the form of the Hebrew noun
being assimilated to that of the particle before it. Amidst these various
constructions the essential meaning still remains unchanged, to wit, that the
rich fools of the foregoing context imagine their prosperity to be perpetual.
13 (12). And man in honour shall not lodge; he is made like to the brutes;
they are destroyed. The and at the beginning is equivalent to and yet, or
to the simple adversative but. It introduces the contrast of man's real
frailty with his imaginary permanence. As if he had said, "Such are the
dreams of the rich fool, and (yet) man really," &c. The word translated
honour properly means value, price, but is applied precisely like the corresponding Greek word (timh<). It here includes all that makes the condition
of the rich fool seem desirable, either to his own conceit, or to the envious
admiration of his neighbours. In this position he is not to lodge, i. e.
remain permanently, or with closer adherence to the strict sense of the verb,
continue even for a night, implying that he is to perish before morning.
This passage seems to have been present to our Lord's mind, when he
uttered the parable of the Rich Fool. Compare especially with the verse
before us, Luke xii. 20. Made like, assimilated, not in his origin, but in
his end. The point of comparison seems to be their blindness and irrational destitution of all foresight. The word translated brutes may be still
more closely rendered beasts, being properly descriptive of the larger quadrupeds. It might even seem in this case to denote specifically cattle or
domesticated animals, as those which men are especially accustomed to see
suddenly deprived of life. But this limitation of the term is peculiar to
prose style, whereas in poetry, when used distinctively, it rather signifies
220
PSALM XLIX.
[VER. 13, 14.
wild beasts. It is better, therefore, to give it here its wider sense of beasts
in general, and to explain even these as mere representatives or samples of
the whole class, brutes or irrational animals, like whom the rich fool is cut
off suddenly and unawares. They are destroyed, or as the word seems to
signify originally, silenced, brought to silence, i. e. stilled or hushed in death.
By assuming an enallage or sudden change of number, we may construe
this verb with the human subject. He (the rich fool) is treated like the
brute; (like these) they (the rich fools) are destroyed. A less emphatic but
more obvious construction is that which refers it to the brutes themselves.
He is made like to the beasts (which) are destroyed (before they are aware).
14 (13). This (is) their course; (such is) their folly; and (yet) after
them (men) will delight in what they say. Selah. Their way or course
means not only their behaviour, but their fate or destiny. See above, on
Ps. i. 6. Such is their folly; literally folly (is) to them, they have folly,
they are fools. The noun means originally hope or expectation; then an
overweening confidence, a fond or foolish hope; then folly, but not without a special reference to this specific form of it. The term is peculiarly
appropriate to those who had just been described as confidently looking for
a permanent enjoyment of their present pleasures, when about to be deprived of them for ever. After them may refer to those who follow them
in time, their successors or descendants. But as a similar expression elsewhere denotes those who follow in the sense of imitating or adhering to a
leader (Exod. xxiii. 2, 2 Sam. ii. 10), it is best to retain this meaning in
the case before us. They who follow them, their imitators, their adherents,
will delight in their mouth, approve of what they say, adopt their principles,
and act upon their maxims. The general meaning of the verse, as thus explained, is
that notwithstanding the gross folly of such sinners, as proved by the end to which it
brings them, they will still find some to walk in their footsteps, and to share their ruin.
Against this propagated and perpetuated folly there is a tacit but emphatic protest in the
meditative pause which follows, and in the Selah which denotes it.
15 (14). Like a flock to the grave they drive; death is their shepherd; and
the righteous shall rule over them in the morning; and their form the grave
(is) to consume; from (their) home to him (they go or they belong). This
is one of the most obscure and difficult verses in the book, although its
general meaning is obvious enough. Like sheep, or like a flock, i. e. blindly,
in confusion, and without choice or foresight of their own. See above, on
ver. 13,(12). Hell, in the wide old English sense of the grave or the
state of the dead. See above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5), ix. 18 (17), xvi. 10, xviii.
6 (5), xxx. 4 (3), xxxi. 18 (17). They drive; the Hebrew verb, like the
English one, is active in form, but really involves a passive meaning, they
are driven, literally put or placed. See above, on Ps. xii. 6 (5). The
figure of a flock is carried out by representing Death as the shepherd, by
whom they are led or driven. The literal meaning of the words is, Death
shall feed them, but the Hebrew verb means to feed as a shepherd; or
rather to perform the whole office of a shepherd. To this word and its
synonyme in greek (poimai<nw) we have no exact equivalent in English.
The bald translation, death shall feed them, seems to imply that the prominent idea is that of nourishment, whereas it is that of guidance or direction. The common version, death shall feed on them, although not ungrammatical, is entirely at variance with the figure of a flock and a shepherd,
which immediately precedes. The verb translated rule seems originally to
denote the act of treading on or trampling, in which sense it is supposed
VER. 15, 16.]
PSALM XLIX.
221
to be used by Joel, iv. 13 (iii. 13). If this sense be adopted here, the idea
may be either that of treading on a grave, or on the neck of a conquered
enemy. As the Hebrew verb, however, in every other case, means to rule
over, and especially when followed by the same preposition as in this place,
it is better to adhere to the established usage, which affords a perfectly
good sense, namely, that the righteous shall soon triumph over their once
prosperous oppressors. At break of day, or in the morning, i. e. very soon,
to-morrow, with allusion, no doubt, to the form of expression in ver. 13 (12),
above, and to the general use of night and morning, as figures for distress
and relief from it. See above, on Ps. xxx. 6 (5). Their form, shape,
figure, perhaps with an implication of beauty, which is expressed in the
English version. Consume, literally make old, wear out, waste away. See
above, on Ps. xxxii. 3. Is to consume, will do so, or is about to do so.
The last clause is even more obscure than what precedes. The last word
in Hebrew means to him (or it), which most interpreters exchange, by an
enallage of number, into them. It may, however, be referred directly to
the nearest antecedent, hell, the grave, or to death, personified in the first
clause. From (their) dwelling, i. e. driven from it, (they descend or they
belong) to him. However harsh the ellipsis here assumed may seem, it is
really less so than to omit the preposition with some writers, or the pronoun with others, or with one to understand from dwelling to mean a
dwelling which is not a dwelling, or, as we might say, an undwelling.
Apart from these minute verbal difficulties, the general idea of the verse is
plain, to wit, that they who are now an object of envy or congratulation
are soon to be deprived by death of all their coveted and boasted advantages.
16 (15). Only God will redeem my soul from the hand of Hell, for he will
take me. Selah. The Hebrew particle at the beginning of the sentence
always denotes a limitation or exception. See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 8,
xxxix. 12 (11). It may here mean either that his own case is excepted
from the destruction which he has been describing, and which might seem
to be described as universal; or that God alone can afford that safety which
the rich fool hopes to derive from his secular advantages. Redeem, in allusion to ver. 8, 9 (7, 8), above. The hand is a common emblem of power,
but it may here belong to a personification of Sheol, the grave, or hell, like
that of death in ver. 15 (14). For he will take me, i. e., as some suppose,
will take me to himself, accept me. But as the verb is nowhere absolutely
used in this sense, it is better to explain it as a parallel expression to redeem.
"He will redeem me from the hand of Sheol, for he will take me (out of
it)." Either of these constructions is more natural than that which makes
Sheol the subject of the last verb. "He will redeem me from the hand of
Sheol, when it seizes (or would seize) me." The hostile sense thus put
upon the verb may be justified by the analogy of Isa. xxviii. 19; but the
change of subject and the less usual meaning of the. particle (yKi) are not to
be assumed without necessity.
17 (16). Be not thou afraid because a man grows rich, because the glory
of his house increases. Here begins the application or practical conclusion
of the foregoing meditations. It is marked by a change of form, the Psalmist now no longer speaking of himself, but to himself, or to another, as the
person most directly interested in his subject. See a similar transition
in Ps. xxxii. 8, and compare the parental or authoritative tone of the
address with that in Ps. xxxiv. 12 (11). Fear not, be not apprehensive
or solicitous, not merely for thyself, but for the cause of truth and goodness.
222
PSALM XLIX.
[VER. 17, 18.
See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 1. The conjunction in the first clause may also be
translated when or though. But the proper causal meaning of the particle
should always be preferred when admissible, and especially in cases like the
present, where it yields not only a good sense but the best sense, since the
increasing wealth and honour of the wicked is certainly assigned as the
cause or occasion of the anxious apprehensions here forbidden. The use
of the English present tense in the translation of this verse is merely idiomatic, since in such connections it is really a future. The verb of the first
clause is a causative, and strictly means to enrich or make rich. The transition to the neuter or intransitive sense is precisely similar to that of the
English verb increase, which strictly means to make greater, but in this very
sentence has the intransitive sense of growing (or becoming) greater. There
is no other clear example of the first Hebrew verb being so used. Dan.
xi. 2, and Prov. x. 4, are at least ambiguous. A man cannot of itself denote
a bad man, but that idea is suggested by the context, and especially by the
use of the word man in ver. 8 (7), 13 (12). Glory or honour here includes
all the sensible effects of riches, as a source of admiration and applause.
House, in the wide sense, common to both languages, including both the dwelling
and the family, the house and household. See Gen vii. 1, xviii. 19, xxxv. 2, 1. 4.
18 (17.) For not in his death will he take the whole; not down will go
after him his glory. The form of the original is here retained as far as
possible, in order to exhibit its highly idiomatic character. The position
of the negative in both clauses makes it far more emphatic than in our English collocation. At his death, in his dying, when he dies. The whole
this word is usually rendered all, but it is invariably a substantive in Hebrew, and is here determined to be such by the definite article prefixed.
Not the whole, however, or not all, is by no means so significant a phrase
in English as in Hebrew, where the absence of indefinite pronouns makes
this the only way of saying not anything, i. e. nothing While the words
therefore certainly mean that he shall not take all, they likewise mean that he
shall not take any of his secular possessions with him; and this stronger sense
is here required by the context. His glory, as in the preceding verse, his
wealth and the honours or distinctions springing from it. Descend after
him, not in the moral or legal sense of a hereditary descent to his heirs, but
in the local sense of a descent into the grave or the unseen world. The
whole verse assigns a reason for not envying the wealthy sinner, namely,
because he will be soon obliged to leave his wealth behind him.
19 (18). For his soul in his life he will bless, and (others) will praise
thee because thou doest good to thyself. There is no need of giving yKi the
sense of but, though, or any other than its proper causal sense of for, because.
See above, on ver. 17 (16). This verse assigns the reason of the fact
alleged in the one before it. The wealthy sinner is to carry nothing with
him when he dies, because he is to have his "good things" in the present
life. This is God's appointment in accordance with his own free choice.
In his life (or lifetime), as long as he lives, he is to bless his soul (or himself), i. e. to reckon himself happy, and to be so esteemed by others. In
the last clause, the third person is abruptly exchanged for the second, and
the wealthy sinner, of whom the Psalmist had been speaking to himself or
his disciple, is directly addressed, as if personally present. This application of the figure called apostrophe is made with great skill and rhetorical
effect. The plural verb is indefinite, as in ver. 14 (13) above. They, i. e.
men in general, or others, as distinguished from himself. The verb itself
VER. 19, 20.]
PSALM XLIX.
223
means strictly to acknowledge or confess; then more specifically, to acknowledge benefits received, to thank; and then to praise in general. See above, on
Ps. vi. 6 (5). The primary meaning may be here still kept in view, by
understanding him to mean, they will recognise thee (or take knowledge of
thee) that thou doest good (or as one doing good) to thyself. There is no
need of substituting either a present or a past tense for the futures, which
are perfectly appropriate in speaking of a course of conduct yet to be acted
out, the wealthy sinner being represented as still living, both in this verse
and the one before it. There is pungent sarcasm in the close of this verse:
they will praise thee because thou doest good—to thyself. Or, because
thou doest well for thyself. The addition of this last phrase serves to
characterise vividly, not only the rich sinner but his flatterers. There can
be little doubt that our Saviour tacitly alluded to the first clause of this
verse, when he made Abraham say to Dives, "Son, remember that thou in
thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things;
but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented" (Luke xvi. 25). This is
indeed a most instructive commentary on the passage now before us, as
exhibiting the future revolution in the relative position of the parties, as a
reason for not envying the wealthy sinner now. It is equally certain, that the Rich Fool's
address to his own soul, in Luke xii. 19, was suggested by the same clause of the psalm
before us, in his lifetime he will bless his soul. Indeed, the whole conception of the Rich
Man in the one case, and the Rich Fool in the other, may be said to be borrowed from this
psalm, and may therefore derive instructive and interesting illustration from it.
20 (19). It shall go (or thou shalt go) to the generation of his fathers; for
ever they shall not see light. The first verb may be either a third person
feminine, agreeing with soul, or a second person masculine, addressed directly
to the wealthy sinner. In the latter case, we must suppose an immediate
change to the third person, in order to account for the expression his fathers.
In either case, the idea is that he shall go, though this would not be a
correct translation of the Hebrew words. The whole clause has reference
to the frequent description of death in the Old Testament, as a man's
sleeping with his fathers, or being gathered to his fathers. Generation may
be taken as a collective term, denoting the successive generations of his
fathers, either natural or spiritual, i. e. either his literal progenitors, or his
predecessors in the same way of thinking and. the same course of life.
There is no absurdity indeed in supposing the two senses to be here coincident. To perpetuity they shall not see, in our idiom, they shall never see.
The light, i. e. the light of life, or the light of the living, an expression used
by David, Ps. lvi. 14 (13). The meaning of the whole verse is, that the wealthy sinner is to
die as his fathers died before him, and continue dead like them, without returning to
revisit, much less to repossess, the riches and honours which he once imagined were to
last for ever. This completes the proof that these advantages are not legitimate or even
rational occasions of envious dissatisfaction to the righteous.
21 (20). Man (that is) in honour and understandeth not is likened to the
beasts (that) are destroyed. The first verb in this verse and the first verb
in ver. 13 (12) differ only in a single letter (Nyby and Nyly), in consequence
of which they are confounded by the ancient Greek and Syriac translators,
and some modern critics have proposed to amend one of the places by
assimilation to the other. But the prevalent practice of the Hebrew
writers, where the same burden or refrain recurs, is not to repeat it slavishly,
but with some slight variation in the form, which not unfrequently suggests
224
PSALM L.
VER. 1-3.
a new idea, or modifies the one before expressed. See above, on Ps.
xxiv. 10, xlii. 12 (11). So here, at the close of the first strophe, the rich
fool is compared to the brutes that perish, with respect to the uncertainty
of his enjoyments; and again at the close of the second, with respect to his
irrationality, the points of comparison being distinct but inseparable. No
wonder that the sinner is cut off unawares like the brutes, when in fact he
is equally irrational. By tampering with the text of either passage, therefore, we take from the psalm one of its moral lessons, as well as one of its
rhetorical beauties.
PSALM L.
UNDER the figure of a great judicial process, God himself is introduced,
exposing and condemning the hypocrisy of formalists, and expounding the
true nature of his law. After a striking introduction, ver. 1-6, he reproves
the perversion, and exhibits the true meaning, of the first table of the law,
ver. 7-15, and then of the second, ver. 16-21, and closes with a solemn
warning and a gracious promise, ver. 22-23.
1. A Psalm. By Asaph. The Almighty, God, Jehovah, speaks, and
calls the earth, from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
Asaph was one of David's chief musicians (1 Chron. xv. 17, 19), and
also an inspired psalmist (1 Chron. xxv. 2, 2 Chron. xxix. 30). In
both these capacities the psalm might be Ascribed to him, nor is it possible either to prove or disprove that it was composed by him. Mighty or
Almighty is not an adjective agreeing with the next word (the Mighty God),
but a substantive in apposition with it. Three divine names are put together in a kind of climax, El, Elohim, Jehovah. The first represents God
as almighty, the second as the only proper object of worship and (by its
plural form) as perfect, the third as self-existent and eternal, and at the
same time as the peculiar God of Israel. The same combination occurs in
Josh. xxii. 22. It is here intended to enhance the grandeur of the scene
by setting forth the titles of the judge or sovereign. Speaks, or more exactly
spoke, has spoken, by which, however, we may understand an act just past.
The same remark applies to the word calls, which is here used in the sense
of summoning or citing. From sunrise to sunset, or from east to west, is
a natural description of the earth in its whole extent, including its remotest
bounds but not excluding that which lies between them. See above, on
Ps. ii. 8.
2. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. He comes
forth, in a splendid and imposing manner, from his royal residence, the
seat of the theocracy, which is described as perfectly beautiful, not only in
a moral and spiritual sense, but in reference also to its lofty situation, celebrated in Ps. xlviii. 3 (2) above. The Hebrew verb is borrowed from the
sublime theophany in Deut. xxxiii. 2; see also Ps. lxxx. 2 (1), xciv. 1.
3. Our God shall come—and let him not be silent—fire before him shall
devour, and around him it shall be tempestuous exceedingly. The future in
the first clause may be rendered he is coming, as if the sound of his voice
and the light of his glory had preceded his actual appearance. The imagery
is borrowed from the giving of the law at Sinai, Exod. xix. 16, xx. 18.
Consuming fire is a common emblem of God's vindicatory justice (Deut.
xxxii. 22, 2 Thess. i. 8), and of God himself considered as a righteous God
(Deut. iv. 24, ix. 3, Heb. xii. 29).
VER. 4-8.]
PSALM L.
225
4. He will call to the heavens above and to the earth, to judge his people.
The future, as before, describes an act just about to be performed. It
might even be translated, he is calling. The compound preposition, from
over, is used adverbially in the sense of above. See for example Gen. i. 7.
The strict sense, from, above, would here be inappropriate, since God is represented not as speaking from heaven, much less from above it, but as
appearing upon earth, and visibly coming out of Zion. In our idiom these
words would naturally mean that he summons heaven and earth to sit in
judgment on his people. But according to Hebrew usage, the last clause
may refer to the remoter antecedent, the subject of the principal verb, and
be translated, so that he may judge his people. The heavens and earth, put
for the whole creation, are summoned not as judges but as witnesses, as
appears from ver. 6 below. See Deut. iv. 26, xxx. 19, xxxi. 28, and compare Isa. i. 2.
5. Gather for me my saints, ratifying my covenant over sacrifice. Tho
judge here addresses, as it were, the ministerial officers of justice. Compare Mat. xxiv. 31. For me, as my messengers, acting in my behalf, or to
me, i. e. to the place where I am, here, around me. My saints, the objects of
my mercy, those whom I have called and specially distinguished. See
above, on Ps. iv. 4 (3). The term is here descriptive of a relation, not of
an intrinsic quality. Ratifying, literally cutting, striking, perhaps in allusion to the practice of slaying and dividing victims as a religious rite accompanying solemn compacts. See Gen. xv. 10, 18. The same usage may be
referred to in the following words, over sacrifice, i. e. standing over it, or on
sacrifice, i. e. founding the engagement on a previous appeal to God. There
is probably allusion to the great covenant transaction recorded in Exod.
xxiv. 4-8. This reference to sacrifice shews clearly that what follows was
not intended to discredit or repudiate that essential symbol of the typical or
ceremonial system.
6. And (now) the heavens have declared his righteousness, for God (is) judge
himself. Selah. The heavens are witnesses of God's judicial rectitude, for
he himself (and not a delegated man or angel) is the judge (on this occasion).
Or the last words may be rendered, he is judging, i. e. acting as a judge.
The parties and the witnesses having been summoned, the judicial process
now begins. The pause, denoted by the Selah, is one indicative of awe,
excited by the dread solemnity of these proceedings.
7. Hear, my people, and let me speak, and let me testify against thee. God,
thy God, am I. The introductory description being ended, the divine judgment now begins. Let me speak, or I will speak, the peculiar form of the
Hebrew verb, sometimes expressing strong desire and sometimes fixed determination. See above, on Ps. ii. 3. God is himself the witness against
Israel, by whom the charge is to be proved, the heavens and the earth being
only witnesses of the judicial scene or spectacle. I am not only God, but
thy God, bound to thee by covenant, and reciprocally claiming thy allegiance. This may be added as a reason why he has a right to testify against
them; or it may be the beginning of the testimony itself. "Let me testify
against thee as thy God," or, "I will testify against thee, that I am thy
God," although I am not so regarded or so treated.
8. Not for thy sacrifices will I reprove thee, and thy burnt-offerings before
me always. The insertion of the words to have been, in the common version,
seems to make the clause mean, that although they had neglected this external rite, it was of no importance, whereas the simple meaning of the
Hebrew sentence is, that they were not chargeable with this neglect, im-
226
PSALM L.
[VER. 9-13.
plying that the observance was obligatory, which is in perfect keeping with
the tenor of the psalm. "I do not charge thee with withholding the material
offerings to which I am entitled, for in truth they are ever before me." To
the generic term sacrifices, animal oblations, he adds the more specific one,
burnt-offering, the usual English version of a Hebrew term, denoting the
principal and ordinary expiatory offering of the Mosaic ritual. See above,
on Ps. xx. 4 (3), xl. 7 (6).
9. I will not take from thy house a bullock, (nor) from thy folds he-goats.
Here begins the correction of the false and foolish notion, extensively prevalent among the heathen, and not unknown among the ancient Jews,
especially in times of great corruption, that the sacrifices were designed to
satisfy some physical necessity on God's part, whether in the way of food
or otherwise. In opposition to this impious absurdity, it is argued that,
even if God needed such supplies, he would not be dependent on the worshipper, who is here addressed directly as an individual, with great advantage to the liveliness and force of the whole passage. "If I needed bulls
and goats, as you imagine, I would not be under the necessity of seeking
them at your hands."
10. For to me (belongs) every beast of the forest, the cattle in hills of a
thousand. This last idiomatic phrase may either mean a thousand hills, or
hills where the cattle rove by thousands, with probable allusion to the hilly
grounds of Bashan beyond Jordan. See above, on Ps. xxii. 13 (12). According to etymology, the noun in the first clause means an animal, and
that in the second beasts or brutes in general. See above, on Ps. xlix. 13
(12). But when placed in antithesis, the first denotes a wild beast, and
the second domesticated animals or cattle. Both words were necessary to
express God's sovereign propriety in the whole animal creation. Thus
understood, the verse assigns a reason for the negative assertion in the one
before it. Even if God could stand in need of animal oblations, for his
own sake, or for their sake, he would not be under the necessity of coming
to man for them, since the whole animal creation is his property and perfectly at his disposal.
11. I know every bird of the hills, and the population of the field (is) with
me, i. e. in my presence, under my inspection, and within my reach. The
past tense of the verb suggests not merely that it is so now, but that it has
been so from the beginning. This is no newly acquired knowledge or
authority, but such as are involved in the very relation between creature
and creator. Population, literally movement, motion, i. e. animal motion,
and by a natural metonymy that which lives and moves.
12. If I were hungry, I would not say (so) to thee; for to me (belongs)
the world and its fulness, that which fills it, its contents and its inhabitants. See above, on Ps. xxiv. 1. The first clause may be rendered, with
a closer adherence to the form of the original, if I am hungry, I will not
say (so) to thee. All this is said upon the supposition, that God may, in
some sense, need supplies of this kind, although even then he would be
wholly independent of man's bounty or fidelity in furnishing them. But
the supposition is of course a false one, and is so represented in the next verse.
13. Will I eat the flesh of bulls and drink the blood of goats? The
future of the Hebrew verb is very expressive, suggesting the ideas of possibility, necessity, and desire. Do I desire the flesh and blood of beasts
for my refreshment? Do I need them for my sustenance? Or is it even
possible for me to use them in the way that you imagine? The negative
VER. 14-16.]
PSALM L.
227
answer, which is obviously expected to these questions, presupposes the
great doctrine that Jehovah is a spirit, and as such exempt from all corporeal necessities. This, then, is another refutation of the gross and.
impious error that he needed their oblations. If they were necessary in
themselves, he could obtain them elsewhere; and that they are not necessary follows, as an inevitable consequence, from the spirituality of the
divine nature. This is not the language of dry and formal ratiocination,
which, on such a subject and in such a connection, would be not only misplaced but revolting. It is rather the language of impassioned. and indignant expostulation, holding up the absurdities, to which the error of the
formal worshipper inevitably tended, as a refutation of the error itself,
14. Sacrifice to God thanksgiving, and (so) pay unto the Most High thy
vows. The first word means something more than offer, and contains a
distinct allusion to the animal sacrifices mentioned in ver. 8 above. This
is not an exhortaton to offer thanks or praise instead of material sacrifices,
which would. be inconsistent with the express requisition of the latter, but
to offer them as expressions of thanksgiving, or in other words, to offer
these as they were intended to be offered, not as a meritorious operation,
nor as gross attempts to feed the Deity, but as symbolical expressions of
devout affection, repentance, faith, and love, all which we may suppose to be
represented, or at least suggested, by the single act of praise or thanksgiving, here explicitly enjoined. The imperative in the last clause may,
according to a very common Hebrew idiom, be resolved into a future, and
the whole verse paraphrased as follows: "If you offer your material sacrifices, not merely as such, but as the prescribed expression of inward. spiritual exercises,
you will thereby really discharge your obligations to the being whom you worship."
15. And call upon me in a day of distress; I will free thee and thou
shalt honour me. The imperative in the first clause, is dependent upon
that in the preceding verse. The connection may be rendered clearer by
substituting then for and. Offer such sacrifices, and you will really discharge your obligations; then, when you call upon me, I will hear you.
Thou shalt honour me, thou shalt have occasion to renew thy praises and.
thanksgivings for new benefits received. With this encouraging assurance
closes the divine exposition of the sacrificial system.
16. And to the wicked God saith, What hast thou (to do) to declare my
statutes, and take thy covenant into thy mouth? Thus far the doctrine of
the psalm has had respect to the formal worshipper, whose rites are, mere
external services, expressive of no inward faith or love. But now it is
applied.to him who actually violates the law which he professes to acknowledge. The wicked, the man of vicious life, who is afterwards described
with more particularity. He is not necessarily distinct in real life from
the formalist of the foregoing context. The description is not of two individuals, but of two classes, to which one and the same person may belong,
or two characters, which one and the same person may exhibit. Saith,
said, or hath said, on the same ideal occasion. What (is) to thee, the only
Hebrew mode of saying, what hast thou, i. e. what right or reason hast
thou? To declare, either by profession of one's own faith, or by authoritative teaching of others. There may perhaps be some allusion to the
primary meaning of the Hebrew verb, which is to count or number. See
above, on Ps. xl. 6 (5). To count off or reckon up God's statutes is a
very natural expression for censorious or ostentatious iteration, especially
in this connection, where an obvious reference to the ten commandments
228
PSALM L.
[VER. 17-21.
follows. My covenant, my law considered as conditional, or as involving
reciprocal engagements upon my part. See above; on ver. 5. To take
into the mouth, or more literally, to take up on the mouth, is a strong idiomatic phrase for uttering, pronouncing. See above, on Ps. xvi. 4.
17. And thou hast hated instruction, and hast cast my words behind thee.
The very person who enforces the law, in all its rigour, upon others, refuses
to submit to it himself, and treats its precepts not only with neglect but
with contempt. This passage seems to have been present to the mind of
Paul, in that remarkable series of interrogations, "Thou therefore which
teachest another teachest thou not thyself," &c. Rom. ii. 21-23.
18. If thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst with him, and with adulterers
(has been) thy portion. The first clause conveys far more than the simple
idea of consent. The expression if thou sawest implies great eagerness and
an instinctive drawing towards the thief as a congenial spirit. The second verb in Hebrew
denotes a cordial and complacent acquiescence. Thy portion or participation, common
interest, communion. These particular sins are mentioned with reference to their
prohibition in the seventh and eighth commandments (Exod. xx. 14, 15).
19. Thy mouth thou hast given up to evil, and thy tongue will weave (or
frame) deceit. The ninth commandment is now added to the other two, as
being habitually violated by the person here addressed. Given up to,
literally sent out with (or into) evil. The first clause is descriptive of mere
evil speaking, the second of more artificial and ingenious lying. Both
verbs include present time, but the first with the additional idea of an early
habit, formed and settled in time past, the other with that of an inveterate
habit, not likely to be broken or reformed hereafter.
20. Thou wilt sit (and) against thy brother speak; at the son of thy
mother thou wilt aim a blow. To the general charge of falsehood is now
added the specific one of slander, not against strangers, but his nearest
friends. The idea suggested by the future is that such behaviour may be
confidently looked for on the part of such a character. Thou wilt sit, in
the company of others, or more specifically of the wicked, or of other wicked
slanderers, as one of them. See above, on ver. 18. As brother might be
understood as meaning merely any other man, it is determined by the unambiguous phrase, thy mother's son. This is mentioned merely as an
extreme case, not as excluding other relations and friends, but rather comprehending them. Aim a blow, literally give a thrust, so as to cast him
down. The blow meant is a stroke of the tongue. Compare Jer. xviii. 18.
21. These things hast thou done, and I have held my peace; thou hast
imagined I was just like thyself. I will reprove thee, and array (thy sins)
before thine eyes. God is described as silent when he does not interpose
with his reproofs or manifest his displeasure. See above, on Ps. xxviii. 1.
Imagined; the Hebrew verb originally means to liken or compare, and.
another of the same form to be silent, so that it is peculiarly appropriate
in this place, where the mention of God's silence immediately precedes,
and the imagining referred to was a false assimilation of the Most High to
the sinner himself. Just like, or exactly like, the intensive adverb corresponding to the emphatic repetition of the verb in Hebrew. In our idiom,
an adversative particle is almost indispensable between the clauses; but
the more abrupt transition is congenial with the spirit and usage of the
Hebrew language. Array, arrange, set in order, so that none shall be
omitted or overlooked. See above, on Ps. v. 4 (3). Before thine eyes,
literally to thine eyes, or to thy face, again implying that the sight of them
VER. 22, 23.]
PSALM L.
229
is not to be avoided. This declaration of severe fidelity forms an appropriate conclusion to the second lesson of the psalm, or that in which the
mask is stripped off from the vicious hypocrite, who professes to serve God
while he lives in the grossest violation of his precepts, as in the first part
(ver. 7-15) it was torn from the formal hypocrite, who satisfies himself
with a mere outward and mechanical performance of rites designed to be
significant of spiritual and devout affections.
22. Oh consider this, forgetters of God, lest I rend and there be no deliverer.
To both the argumentative invectives which precede there is added in conclusion a solemn exhortation, including both a warning or admonitory
threatening and a promise. This verse contains the warning. The
Hebrew particle of entreaty (xnA) is not so well expressed by the now of the
English Bible as by the Oh of the Prayer Book version. The image presented in the last clause is that of a ravenous beast, and more especially a
lion. See above, on Ps. xxii. 14 (13). No deliverer, or more literally
none delivering. The description of those addressed, as forgetting (or forgetters of) God, suggests that both forms of hypocrisy exhibited in this
psalm owe their origin to ignorance, mistaken notions, or oblivion, of God's
attributes and purposes and former acts.
23. (The man) sacrificing praise shall honour me, and prepare a way
that I may shew him the salvation of God, that of which he is the author.
See above, on Ps. iv. 9 (8). This phrase is used instead of my salvation,
for the sake of a more sonorous close. The common version of the first
clause makes it an identical preposition: whoso offereth praise glorifieth me.
At the same time it greatly weakens the expression by the use of the ambiguous term offer. The words are all borrowed from ver. 14, 15, to which
there is therefore a direct allusion, and by which the clause must be interpreted. It is really a promise that he whose offerings are genuine expressions of thanksgiving shall have cause or occasion to praise God for his
mercies. The rest of the sentence is more doubtful. According to the
construction above given, which sums to be required by the accents, the
meaning is, that he who offers the right kind of sacrifice, as before explained, prepares the way, literally sets or lays a way, by which he shall
himself attain to the experience of salvation. But as this confines the
promise to the observance of the first great lesson taught in the psalm, we
may give it a wider application, and the sentence a more regular form, by
rendering the last clause thus, and (the man) ordering (his) way, I will
shew the salvation of God. The man ordering his way, i. e. placing it,
defining it, marking it out, is then contrasted with such as turn aside unto
their crooked ways (Ps. cxxv. 5). The precise form of the construction is,
(as to the man) ordering (his) way, I will shew him the salvation of God.
This clause then has reference to the second lesson of the psalm (ver.
16-21), as the other to the first (ver. 7-15). The preposition before salvation in Hebrew often gives the verb to see the pregnant sense of gazing at
or viewing with delight. See above, on Ps. xxii. 18 (17), xxxvii. 34.
PSALM LI.
1, 2. To the Chief Musician. A Psalm. By David. When Nathan
the Prophet came unto him, as he (i. e. David) had come unto Bathsheba.
230
PSALM LI.
[VER. 1-4.
The first inscription was particularly necessary here, to shew that the psalm
was designed for permanent and public use, since it might otherwise have
been regarded as expressive of mere personal emotions. It has reference
to the one great crime of David's life, noted as such in the inspired history
itself (1 Kings xv. 5), and involving the guilt of both adultery and murder.
See 2 Sam. xi. and xii. The significant repetition of the phrase came unto
in ver 2 is lost in the English and most other versions. As is not a mere
particle of time, simply equivalent to when, but suggests the ideas of analogy, proportion, and retaliation. The psalm consists of two parts, a prayer
and a vow. In the first, he prays to be forgiven and restored to the divine
favour, ver. 3-14 (1-12). In the second, he shews how he means to testify his gratitude, ver. 15-21 (13-19).
3 (1). Be gracious to me, (O) God, according to thy mercy; according to
the abundance of thy compassions, blot out my transgressions. In this verse
and the next, he presents the petition which constitutes the theme or burden of the psalm. The appeal to the divine grace, mercy, and compassion,
involves a confession of his own guilt and the justice of his condemnation.
According to, literally like thy mercy, i. e. in accordance with it, in proportion to it. Here again there is a tacit admission of the greatness of his
guilt, as requiring infinite mercy to forgive it. Abundance, increase, multitude. See above, on Ps. v. 8 (7). Compassions, tender mercies, a term
expressive of the warmest and tenderest affections. See above, on Ps.
xviii. 2 (1). Blot out, erase, from thy remembrance. The allusion is
probably to a record or register of crimes, or to the cancelling of accounts,
although the former seems to agree better with ancient and oriental usage.
Compare Num. v. 23. Transgressions, or with closer adherence to the
primary etymological import of the term, revolts, apostasies. See above,
on Ps. xix. 14 (13), xxxii. 1.
4 (2). Thoroughly wash me from my iniquity, and from my sin cleanse
me. The first word in Hebrew is the infinitive or imperative of a verb
meaning to increase or multiply, but often used adverbially in the sense of
plentifully, abundantly. The verb in the first clause properly denotes the
act of washing the garments, as distinguished from that of bathing the body.
See Num. xix. 19. The image here presented, therefore, is the same as in Jude ver. 23,
sin being represented as a stain, and the grace of God as purifying water.
5 (3). For my transgressions I know, and my sin (is) before me always.
His consciousness of guilt is urged, not only as a reason why he should ask
forgiveness, but as a reason why God should grant it. As no one is forgiven unless convinced of sin, so this conviction constitutes a kind of claim
to pardon, not as being meritorious or intrinsically efficacious, but as an
indication of God's merciful intentions, since conviction and forgiveness are
alike his gift. The same mutual connection of the two things is uniformly
recognised in Scripture. See above, on Ps. xxxii. 5, and compare 2 Sam.
xii. 13, Prov. xxviii. 13, 1 John i. 9. The future in the first clause is
significant. I know it and shall know it; I can never henceforth lose the
sense or knowledge of it.
6 (4). To thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done the evil in thine eyes,
to the intent that thou mayest be just in thy speaking, and be clear in thy
judging. The particle at the beginning denotes general relation, as to, or
respecting. The precise relation meant must be determined by the context.
See above, on Ps. xxxv. 19, 24, xxxviii. 17 (16). It does not, therefore,
directly and explicitly substitute God for man as the injured party, which
VER. 5-7 .]
PSALM LI.
231
is the only sense that can be put upon the English phrase against thee.
This idea, however, is undoubtedly implied, as well as perfectly consistent
with the usage of the Scriptures in describing all sin as committed against
God. Even murder, the highest crime that can be committed against man,
is condemned and punished as the violation of God's image (Gen. ix. 6).
It is also possible to understand thee, thee only, as opposed not to other
objects, but to the sinner himself, as one of two contending parties. As if
he had said, thou hast not sinned against me, but I have sinned against
thee, thee only. The evil, not this evil, which restricts the acknowledgment
too much, but that which is evil, meaning sin in general. To the intent
that may have reference to the divine purpose in permitting David's sin to
take this aggravated form, so that there could be neither doubt nor transfer
nor participation of his guilt, and so that when God spoke in condemnation
of it, he might not only be, but appear to be, entirely just. There is no
need, therefore, of adopting the weaker meaning, so that, denoting a mere
consequence but not a purpose, or of supposing the intention indicated to
be merely that of the confession, "I acknowledge this, that thou mayest be
just, &c. Speaking, i. e. speaking as a judge, deciding, or more definitely still,
condemning. It is therefore substantially equivalent to the parallel term judging.
7 (5). Lo, in iniquity I was born, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
The meaning of the first verb is determined by its use in Job xv. 7, Prov.
viii. 24, 25, and that of the corresponding active form in Job xxxix. 1.
The iniquity and sin meant are not those of his mother, but his own.
Having just before confessed his actual transgressions, he now acknowledges
the corruption of his nature. This has always been regarded as the locus
classicus of the Old Testament, in reference to the doctrine of original sin.
8 (6). Lo, truth thou hast desired in the inward (or secret) parts, and in
the hidden (part) wisdom, thou wilt make me know. The repetition of behold
or lo, at the beginning of the sentence, seems to indicate a close connection
with the preceding verse. That connection is most probably as follows: —
"Since I am corrupted in my very nature, and thou canst be satisfied with
nothing short of inward sincerity, thou must bestow what thou requirest,
by imparting to me heavenly wisdom." Truth, sincerity, reality, as opposed
to hypocritical profession or pretence. The first verb means not merely to
desire, but to will, as in Job xxxiii. 32. The past tense implies that it has
always been so, that the requisition is no sudden or capricious one, but an
eternal law founded in God's very nature. The inward and hidden parts
are mentioned as opposed to the mere outside. Wisdom, divine illumination, without which no correct view either of sin or holiness is possible.
Thou wilt make me know, involves a prayer, although in form it is an expression of strong confidence.
9 (7). Thou wilt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; thou wilt
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. What he asked in ver. 4 (2) he
here anticipates with confidence. The verb translated purge is very expressive, being a derivative of that which means to sin in ver. 6 (4) above. It
denotes specifically, therefore, purification from the stain of sin, either by
actual payment of the penalty (Gen. xxxi. 39), or by vicarious satisfaction
(Num. xix. 19). Hyssop is mentioned as a plant much used in the Levitical purgations, either as a convenient instrument of sprinkling (Exod. xii.
22), or as an emblem of the divine condescension, viewed in contrast with the
divine majesty (Isa. lxvi. 1, 2), as represented by the cedar, with which the
hyssop is perpetually joined. See Num xix. 18, and compare 1 Kings v. 13.
232
PSALM LI.
[VER. 8-10.
iv. 33. In either case, to purge with hyssop necessarily suggests the idea of
a purification founded on atonement, as the hyssop was employed to sprinkle
purifying substances, and sometimes mingled with them (Exod. xii. 22,
Num. xix. 6, 18). The second future in each clause expresses both consent
and expectation. Whiter than snow is a natural hyperbole denoting perfect
purity. See the sames image applied to the same subject in Isa. i. 18. The
last verb answers to the English whiten, being properly a causative, but
sometimes used intransitively, just as we may say, that blushing reddens the
face, or that the face reddens in the act of blushing. "Wash me, and I
shall whiten (become white) from (away from, as distinguished from, and
by implication more than) snow."
10 (8.) Thou wilt make to hear joy and gladness; (then) shall rejoice
the bones (which) thou hast broken (bruised, or crushed). What is formally
expressed is still a confident expectation or assured hope, under which,
however, an intense desire is implicitly contained. The joy here anticipated is that of pardoned sin. See above, on Ps. xxxii. 1. He expects
to hear it, as communicated or announced by God. The word then is introduced in the translation for the sake of retaining the original arrangement of the sentence, closing, as it does in Hebrew, with the emphatic
figure, crushed or broken, which expresses, in a very lively manner, the disorder and distress produced by consciousness of aggravated and unexpiated
guilt. The change from this condition to a sense of safety and reconciliation with God,
is not too strongly represented by the bold but most expressive figure of broken bones
rejoicing. The ellipsis of the relative in this clause is common to both idioms.
11 (9.) Hide thy face from my sins, and all my iniquities blot out. The
desire implied in the anticipations of the two preceding verses now breaks
out into its proper form, that of direct petition. Hide thy face from them,
so as not to see them, look no longer at them. The same figure is applied, in an unfavourable sense, to God's apparent neglect of his suffering
servants, his refusal to behold them or to notice their condition. See above,
on Ps. xiii. 2 (1), xliv. 25 (24). Blot out, expunge, from thy account, or
from the book of thy remembrance, as in ver. 3 (1) above. What he asks
as to his sins is that God will cancel and forget them.
12 (10.) A pure heart create for me, (O) God, and a fixed (or settled)
spirit renew within me. The petition in the first clause involves a confession of impurity, and of dependence on almighty power and sovereign grace
for its removal. A pure heart is, a familiar Scriptural figure for affections
free from the taint of sin. See above, on Ps. xxiv. 4, and below, on Ps.
lxxiii. 1, and compare Mat. v. 8, Acts xv. 9. While the use of the
word create implies the necessity of an almighty intervention, the additional
phrase to (or for) me suggests the idea of a gift which is often expressed
elsewhere in the same connection. See Jer. xxiv. 7, Ezek. xi. 19, xxxvi.
26, and compare 1 Sam. x. 9. The gift demanded in the last clause is that
of a firm, unwavering spirit, as opposed both to fickleness and cowardice,
Compare the use of the same adjective or participle in Ps. lvii. 8 (7),
lxxviii. 37, cxii. 7. The word renew implies a previous possession of it,
derived not from nature but from grace, and interrrupted by his yielding
to temptation. Though his faith and love could not utterly fail, his fixedness of purpose was destroyed for the time, and could only be recovered
by a new conversion, as in the case of Peter (Luke xxii. 32). Within, me, inthe midst (or in the inside) of me. The same Hebrew noun is repeatedly used
elsewhere, to denote the inward dispositions and affections, as distinguished
VER. 12-14.]
PSALM LI.
233
from a mere profession or appearance. See above, on Ps. v. 10 (9), xlix. 12 (11).
13 (11). Cast me not away from thy presence, and thy Holy Spirit take
not from me. As indispensable prerequisites and means to the possession
of such a heart and spirit as he had just prayed for, he recognises intimate
communion with God, and the active influences of his Spirit. This prayer,
unless we arbitrarily supply again or for ever, seems to imply that David
was in actual possession of these blessings and afraid of losing them.
There may be an intentional allusion to his own reception of the Spirit and
to Saul's privation of it, as recorded in 1 Sam. xvi. 1, 7, 13. Compare
1 Sam. x. 6, 10, Isa. xi. 2.
14 (12). Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and (with) a willing spirit
uphold me. The first verb is a causative in Hebrew, meaning make to
return, implying previous possession. The next phrase may be explained,
according to a very common Hebrew idiom, thy joy of salvation, thy saving
joy. See above, on Ps. ii. 6. But the obvious construction seems to yield
the best sense, namely, that of joy occasioned by salvation, or relating to it
as its subject. This joy was of course incompatible with any interruption
of God's presence and the assurance of his favour. The word translated
willing means spontaneous, prompt, forward to act without coercion; then
liberal, generous, noble. See above, on Ps. xlvii. 10 (9). It may be taken
as an epithet of the Holy Spirit; but the omission of the pronoun (thy)
which determines it in the foregoing verse, and the repeated use of spirit in
the context to denote his own heart, makes it more probable that this is
the sense here likewise. By such a spirit of spontaneous conformity to
God's will he desires and hopes to be held up, i. e. preserved from falling as
he fell before.
15 (13). (Then) will I teach transgressrs thy ways, and sinners unto thee
shall return. Here begins the expression of his thankfulness, or rather a
description of the way in which he is determined to express it. The word
supplied at the beginning points out the connection of the verses. "Then,
when these petitions have been answered, I will teach," &c. The form of
the Hebrew verb denotes a strong desire and a settled purpose, as if he had
said, "I am resolved to teach." Transgressors, rebels, traitors, apostates.
See above, on ver. 5 (3). Thy ways, as well the ways in which thou
walkest as the ways in which thou requirest us to walk, the course of providence and the course of duty. See above, on Ps. xviii. 22, 31 (21, 30).
In both these senses, he might naturally wish to "vindicate the ways of
God to man." Of this resolution a partial fulfilment is recorded in Ps.
xxxii. 8, 9. The effect of such instructions is recorded in the last clause
of the verse before us. The Hebrew verb there used is not a passive
(shall be converted), but an active form, shall turn or return to the Lord,
perhaps with an allusion to the great original apostasy, in which the whole
race is involved. See above, on Ps. xxii. 28 (27). To this verse there seems
to be particular allusion in our Saviour's words to Peter, Luke xxii. 32.
16 (14). Free me from blood, O God, God of my salvation, (and) my
tongue shall celebrate thy righteousness. The first clause contains the
condition of the second, and the whole is equivalent to saying "If thou wilt
save me, I will praise thee." Blood, literally bloods, the plural being idiomatically used when there is reference to murder. See above, on Ps.
v. 7 (6). There may be an allusion to the frequent personification of the
victim's blood, as crying out for vengeance on the murderer or pursuing
him (Gen. iv. 10, ix. 5, 6). The verb translated free is applied to deliver-
234
PSALM LI.
VER. 15-18.
ance from enemies in Ps. vii. 2 (1), and from sins (as here) in Ps.
xxxix. 9 (8). The strength of the desire here expressed may derive some
illustration from the threatening in 2 Sam. xii. 9,10. Celebrate, applaud
by shout or song. See above, on Ps. v. 12 (11), xx. 6 (5), xxxii. 11, xxxiii. 1.
17 (15). Lord, my lips thou wilt open, and my mouth shall declare thy
praise. The relation of the clauses to each other is the same as in the
foregoing verse. "If thou wilt open my lips, my mouth," &c. The first
clause therefore really includes a petition that his lips may be opened; but
it also includes more, to wit, a confident anticipation that his prayer will
be granted. The sense is therefore only partially expressed by rendering
the future as an imperative (open thou my lips). The exact form as well
.as the sense of the original is given in the Prayer-Book Version (thou shalt
open my lips, O Lord). Open, my lips, i. e. enable me to praise thee by
affording an occasion, and empower me to praise thee, by removing this
oppressive sense of guilt, which condemns me to perpetual silence. Compare Isa. vi. 5-7. Declare, tell, utter, or proclaim. See above, Ps.
xix. 2 (1).
18 (16). For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give (it), (in) burntoffering thou delightest not. He now assigns the reason why he is determined to requite God's favour by becoming praise. The literal translation
of the first clause is, thou wilt not desire sacrifice, and I will give (it), i. e.
but if thou dost desire it, I will give it. By sacrifice we must here understand the mere material oblation, apart from the penitent and thankful
spirit, of which it was the required expression. See above, on Ps. xl.
7, (6). The parallel terms, sacrifice and burnt-offering, are commonly regarded as generic and specific expressions of the same idea. But some
interpreters deny that they are ever confounded or promiscuously used, and
give the first the sense of thank-offerings, which are then joined with expiatory offerings, as a general description of all animal oblations.
19 (17). The sacrifices of God (are) a broken spirit; a heart broken and
crushed, (O) God, thou wilt not despise. These are natural and perfectly
intelligible figures for profound and submissive sorrow on account of sin.
There is great significance and beauty in what seems at first to be a solecism in the language of the first clause. The sacrifice of God is a broken
spirit might seem to be a more correct expression; but it would have failed
to suggest the striking and important thought, that one such heart or spirit
is equivalent to all the various and complicated sacrifices of the ritual. The
sacrifices of God are those which he requires and is willing to accept. The
use of the word contrite in the English versions mars the beauty of the
metaphor, because that term is confined to the dialect of theology, whereas
the Latin contritum, from which it was borrowed, as well as the original
expression, exactly corresponds to broken, both in its literal and figurative
usage. Thou wilt not despise, when it is offered, and especially when I
present it, as the solemn expression of my thanks for this deliverance. The
substitution of the present for the future would both weaken and obscure
the sentence, and the same consideration might be urged in favour of a
strict translation in the verse preceding. So far is a habitual sorrow for
sin from being inconsistent with the joy of God's salvation, that David here
engages to present it as a perpetual thank-offering. Compare the language
of Hezekiah, Isa. xxxviii. 15.
20 (18). Do good, in thy favour, to Zion; thou wilt build the walls of
Jerusalem. From his own personal necessities his mind now passes to
VER. 19.]
PSALM LI.
235
those of the whole church, of which he was the visible head and representative, thereby implying that his sense of guilt and danger had been aggravated by the thought of his official relation to God's people, who must
have shared in his disgrace and punishment. See above, on Ps. iii. 4 (3),
iv. 3 (2). The change of construction from the imperative to the future
marks a natural transition from importunate desire to confident anticipation. See above, on ver. 9-11 (7-9). This delicate transition there is
surely no need of obliterating by a gratuitous assimilation of the moods and
tenses. The building of the walls is a poetical parallel to doing good or
shewing favour, and the opposite of dismantling in Ps. lxxxix. 41 (40).
21 (19). Then shalt thou be pleased with sacrifices of righteousness, burntoffering and holocaust; then shall they offer on thine altar bullocks. Then
i. e. when thou past done good to Zion and fortified Jerusalem. Sacrifices
of righteousness, righteous or right sacrifices. See above, on Ps. iv. 6 (5).
Some have inferred from this verse, that the psalm was written in the
Babylonish exile, when the temple was in ruins and the ceremonial law
suspended, and that the Psalmist here anticipates the time when both
should he restored. But this is forbidden by his saying, in ver. 18 (16),
that if God desired burnt-offerings he would give them, plainly implying
the continued observance of the sacrificial system. There is no ground,
therefore, for disputing either the correctness of the title, which ascribes
the psalm to David, or the genuineness of the last two verses, which some
have rejected as an addition by a later hand. These verses are not only
appropriate but necessary as a conclusion to the psalm, and every difficulty
is removed by giving them their natural but figurative meaning, as an
expression of desire and hope that God would favour his own people and
graciously accept their service. Holocaust is here used to translate a single
Hebrew word, meaning a sacrifice entirely consumed upon the altar. It
does not describe something wholly distinct from the burnt-offering, but
the burnt-offering itself considered as a complete and unreserved oblation.
See 1 Sam. vii. 9. Bullocks are mentioned as the choicest victims in point
of species, size, and age. By a slight change of construction we obtain the
bold and striking declaration that the bullocks shall themselves ascend the
altar, i. e. as a living and spontaneous sacrifice. Compare Isa. lx. 7.
PSALM LII.
THIS psalm, besides the title, yes. 1, 2, contains three stanzas of three
verses each. In the first, the Psalmist expostulates with an arrogant,
cruel, and deceitful enemy, ver. 3-5 (1-3). In the second, he foretells the
destruction of his enemy by the divine judgments, and the contempt to be
excited by his folly, ver. 6-8 (4-6). In the third, he contrasts this fatal
fruit of unbelief with the happy effects of his own trust in God, ver. 9-11
(7-9). The two Selahs in ver. 5, 7 (3, 5), have reference not so much to
the form of the psalm as to the feelings of the Psalmist, and are therefore
placed irregularly. See above, on Ps. iii. 3 (2). The variation of the
English and the Hebrew Bible, in numbering the verses of this psalm, is
the same, and arises from the same cause, as in the fifty-first.
1. To the Chief Musician. Maschil. By David. The psalm is expressly designated as a Maschil or didactic psalm, because its adaptation
to this purpose might very easily be overlooked in consequence of its avowed
236
PSALM LII.
[VER. 1-4.
relation to a particular event in David's history. See above, on Ps.
xxxii. 1, xlii. 1, xlv. 1. Though occasioned by this incident, however, it
was written for the permanent and public use of the ancient church, and is
therefore inscribed to (or for) the Chief Musician. See above, on Ps.iv. 1, li. 1.
2. When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David
is come to the house of Ahimelech. This is merely the beginning of the
story, which is supposed to be familiar to the reader of the psalm, and
which is given at length in 1 Sam. xxii. Doeg is mentioned only as the
witness or informer, by whose means the matter came to Saul's knowledge.
When he came, literally in his coming, the same form of expression as in
Ps. li. 2.
3 (1). Why wilt thou boast thyself in evil, mighty (man)? The mercy of
the Almighty (is) all the day. The future form of the verb suggests the
idea of obstinate persistency. Boast thyself in evil, exult or triumph in the
injury of others. The mighty man is not Doeg but Saul, who, of all the
characters in sacred history, approaches nearest to the classical idea of a
hero. There is something, therefore, of respect and admiration implied in
the address, as if he had said "How can one who might have been so,
eminent in well-doing, glory in his shame or boast himself in evil?" In
the last clause there is an obvious antithesis between the malice of this
mighty man and the unfailing goodness of the mighty God. The particular
divine name here used therefore is peculiarly significant. See above, on Ps.
v. 5 (4), 1. 1. As if he had said, "Mighty and malicious as thou art, the
might and mercy of Jehovah are still greater." All the day, i. e. perpetual,
unceasing. See above, on Ps. xlii. 11 (10).
4 (2). Mischiefs will thy tongue devise, like a razor whetted, working deceitfully. The first word means calamitous events, brought on one man by the
malice of another. See above, on Ps. v. 10 (9), xxxviii. 13 (12), and below, on Ps. lvii. 2 (1). The distinctive meaning of the future is the same
as in ver. 3 (1). The tongue is here said to meditate or devise mischief,
because it is personified, or poetically substituted for the speaker. The
allusion is to Saul's cutting words when he accused Ahimelech and David
of conspiracy against him (1 Sam. xxii. 13). This false charge, or the
tongue which uttered it, is likened to a razor, not merely sharp but sharpened, whetted, for the purpose or occasion. See above, on Ps. xlv. 6 (5).
Similar comparisons occur in Ps. lv. 22 (21), lvii. 5 (4), lix. 8 (7), lxiv. 4 (3),
Jer. ix. 2, 7 (3, 8). Working deceitfully, literally deceit or fraud. These
words may be grammatically referred to the speaker or his tongue as practising deceit; but it yields a more striking sense to understand them of the
razor, as working deceitfully, i. e. moving silently and smoothly, when it
cuts most keenly.
5 (3). Thou hast loved evil (more) than good, falsehood (more) than speaking
righteousness. The past tense, like the futures in the foregoing verses, includes the idea of the present; but unlike them, it represents the love of
sin as already long-continued and habitual. Compare the form of expression with that in Ps. xlv. 8 (7). Righteousness includes truth or veracity,
as the genus comprehends the species. The particular unrighteousness
here meant is falsehood, as appears from the antithesis. The selah tacitly
suggests the writer's abhorrence of that which he describes.
6 (4). Thou hast loved all devouring words, tongue of fraud. This is not
so much a continuation of the foregoing discourse, as a resumption or recapitulation for the purpose of drawing a conclusion from it. In periodic
VER. 5-7.]
PSALM LII.
237
style, the connection of the ideas might be thus exhibited: "Since then
thou lovest, &c., therefore God will," &c. Devouring words, literally words
of swallowing or deglutition. The second noun occurs only here; but the
verb to swallow up is continually used in Hebrew to express the idea of
complete destruction. See above, on Ps. xxi. 10 (9), xxxv. 25. Tongue of
deceit or deceitful tongue. This phrase may be governed by the verb, thou
past loved all devouring words (and or even) a deceitful tongue. But it adds
to the strength of the expression, and agrees better with the form of the
context, to make it an apostrophe or direct, address to the deceitful tongue itself.
7 (5). (So) likewise shall God destroy thee for ever; he shall take thee
away, and pluck thee out of (thy) tent, and root thee out of the land of life.
Selah. The particle at the beginning, also, likewise, shows the dependence
of this verse upon the one before it, which is really conditional though not
in form. "As thou, on thy part, lovest all devouring words, so likewise
God, on his part, will destroy thee." No exact translation can convey the
full force of the verbs in this verse, which suggests a variety of striking
figures for destruction or extermination. The first denotes properly the act
of pulling down or demolishing a house (Lev. xiv. 45), and this would also
seem to be the primary meaning of the third (Prov. xv. 25), although some
suppose it to denote the act of pulling up, and to be the opposite of plant, as
the first verb is of build. The second verb, in every other place where it
occurs, has reference to the handling and carrying of fire or coals. See
Prov. vi. 27, xxv. 22, Isa. xxx. 14. To a Hebrew reader, therefore, it
would almost necessarily suggest, not the general idea of removal merely,
but the specific one of removing or taking away like fire, i. e. as coals are
swept out from a hearth, or otherwise extinguished. The remaining verb
adds to these figures that of violent eradication, and is well represented by
its English equivalent. The land of life, or, as it is commonly translated, and
of the living, is a poetical description of life itself, or the present state of
existence, under the figure of a country. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 13. The
quick recurrence of the pause implies excited feeling, and invites attention
to the threatening which immediately precedes.
8 (6). And the righteous shall see, and they shall fear, and at him they
shall laugh. The fear meant is that religious awe produced by any clear
manifestation of God's presence and his power. In Ps. lxiv. 9, 10 (8, 9),
it is assumed to be compatible with joy, and here with laughter at the
wicked, not a selfish exultation in his sufferings, which is explicitly condemned in the Old Testament (Prov. xxiv. 17, Job xxxi. 29), but that sense
of the absurdity of sin, which must be strongest in the purest minds, and cannot, therefore, be incompatible with pity, the rather as it is ascribed to God
himself (Ps. ii. 4). The paronomasia of the verbs translated see and fear is
the same as in Ps. xl. 4 (3). Shall see, i. e. the destruction threatened in
ver. 7 (6). At him, the person thus destroyed, the same who is addressed
directly in the foregoing context. The enallage personæ; may be avoided by
exchanging at him for at it, i. e. the destruction itself; but this is not so
agreeable to Hebrew usage, which always prefers personal to abstract forms
of speech.
9 (7). Behold the man (who) will not make God his strength, but will
trust in the increase of his wealth, (and) will be strong in his wickedness. This
may be regarded as the language of the laughers mentioned in ver. 8 (6).
Behold the man, see to what he is reduced. The effect of the behold is
similar to that of the interrogation in Isa. xiv. 16. The word translated
238
PSALM LII.
[VER. 8, 9
man is not one of the usual terms, but one implying strength or power, so
that its use here gives a kind of sarcastic import to the passage. See the
analogous use of an opposite expression in Ps. viii. 5 (4), x. 18. The
future expresses fixed determination and anticipated perseverance in refusing.
Make, literally place or set. See above, on Ps. xl. 5 (4). His strength, or
more exactly, his stronghold or fortress. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 1,
xxxvii. 39, xliii. 2. Increase, or simply abundance, greatness. See above,
on Ps. v. 8 (7), li. 3 (1). The word translated wickedness is the singular
of that translated mischiefs in ver. 4 (2) above. It seems to signify particularly an inclination fo malicious mischief.
10 (8). And I (am) like a green olive-tree in the house of God, I havetrusted in the mercy of God (to) eternity and perpetuity. He expects not
only the destruction of the wicked but his own salvation. To express the
connection of the verses clearly, our idiom would require an adversative
particle at the beginning, but I. See above, on Ps. ii. 6. A verdant fruitful tree is a favourite emblem of prosperity. See above, on Ps. i. 3. The
olive is here specified, as palms and cedars are in Ps. xcii. 13, 14 (12, 13).
The imagery of the verse before us is copied in Jer. xi. 16. The house of
God, the tabernacle, considered as his earthly residence, in which he entertains his friends and provides for his own household. See above, on Ps.
xv. 1, xxii. 6, xxvii. 4, 5, xxxvi. 9 (8). The mixed metaphors only shew
that the whole description is a figurative one, and should be so interpreted.
I have (already) trusted, which includes his present trust, but also includes
more, to wit, that it is not a new or sudden impulse, but a settled habit of
his soul. The two nouns, eternity and perpetuity, are combined in the
adverbial sense of for ever and ever. See above, on Ps. x. 16, xxi. 5 (4),
xlv. 7 (6), xlviii. 15 (14). This qualifying phrase relates, not to the act,
but to the object, of his trust. His meaning is not, "I will trust for ever
in God's mercy," which would have required a future verb; but, "I have already
trusted, and do still trust, in his mercy, as a mercy that will last for ever."
11 (9). I will thank thee to eternity because thou hast done (it), and will
hope (in) thy name—because it is good—before thy saints. The common
version of the first verb (praise) is not sufficiently specific, as it properly
denotes a particular kind of praise, namely, that for benefits received. See
above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5), vii. 18 (17), xlix. 19 (18). The object of the verb
hast done is to be supplied from the context. See above, on Ps. xxii. 32
(31), xxxvii. 5, xxxix. 10 (9). Thy name, the manifestation of thy nature.
See above, on Ps. v. 12 (11), xx. 2 (1), xxiii. 3, xlviii. 11 (10). To expect
God's name, or wait for it, is to trust in the future exercise and exhibition
of the same divine perfections which have been exhibited already. The
common version, I will wait on thy name, is not so happy as the one in the
Prayer Book, I will hope in thy name. Here again, as in ver. 10 (8), the
epexegetical clause, for it is good, relates not to the act of expectation, but
its object. He does not mean, "because it is good to hope in thy name,"
but "because thy name is good, and is therefore to be hoped in." This is
clear from the analogy of Ps. liv. 8 (6), lxix. 17 (16), cix. 21, which also
shews that the concluding words, before thy saints, are to be construed neither
with what follows, it is good before thy saints, i. e. in their estimation, nor
with the remoter antecedent, I will thank thee, but with the neare antecedent, I will wait for thy name before thy saints, i. e. I will profess my trust
in thy mercy, not in private merely, but in the presence of thy people, of
the church. Compare Ps. xxii. 23 (22). For it is good must then be read
VER. 1, 2.]
PSALM LIII.
235
as a parenthesis. Thy saints, the merciful objects of thy mercy. See
above, on Ps. iv. 4 (3), 1. 5. It is here used simply as a general designation or description of God's people.
PSALM LIII.
A SECOND edition of the fourteenth psalm, with variations, more or less
important, in each verse. That either of these compositions is an incorrect
copy of the other is highly improbable, because two such copies of the same
psalm would not have been retained in the collection, and because the variations are too uniform, consistent, and significant, to be the work of chance
or mere traditional corruption. That the changes were deliberately made
by a later writer is improbable, because such a liberty would hardly have
been taken with a psalm of David, and because the later form, in that case,
would either have been excluded from the Psalter, or substituted for the
first form, or immediately connected with it. The only satisfactory hypothesis is; that the original author afterwards re-wrote it, with such modifications as were necessary to bring out certain points distinctly, but without
any intention to supersede the use of the original composition, which therefore still retains its place in the collection. This supposition is confirmed
by the titles, which ascribe both psalms to David. Of this kind of retractatio, which is not unknown to the practice of uninspired hyinnologists, we
have already met with a remarkable example in the case of David. See
above, the concluding note on Ps. xviii. p. 87. As a general fact, it may
be stated, that the variations in the psalm before us are such as render the
expression stronger, bolder, and in one or two cases more obscure and difficult. To these variations the remarks which follow will be restricted. For
the exposition of the parts which are common to both psalms, the reader
is referred to that of Ps. xiv.
1. To the Chief Musician—upon Methalath—Maschil—by David. Between
the inscription to the Chief Musician and the name of David, which are
also found at the beginning of Ps. xiv., we have here two additional expressions. The first of these is by some regarded as the name or description
of an instrument; but as it is so used nowhere else, and as forms almost
identical occur more than once in the sense of sickness or disease (Exod.
xv. 26, Prov. xviii. 14, 2 Chron. xxi. 15), it seems most natural to take the
phrase as an enigmatical enunciation of the subject of the psalm, which is
in strict accordance both with general usage and with that of David in particular. See above, on Ps. v. 1, xxii. 1, xlv. 1. By disease we may then
understand the spiritual malady with which mankind are all infected, and
which is really the theme or subject of the composition. In the only other
title where it reappears (Ps. lxxxviii. 1), it denotes corporeal disease. The
other addition (maschil) describes the psalm as a didactic one. See above,
on Ps. lii. 1.
2 (1). The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They have done
corruptly, they have done abominable wickedness, there is none doing good.
See above, on Ps. xiv. 1. The only variation in this verse is the substitution of (lvif) iniquity for (hlylf) deed or act. Instead of saying, they have
made (their) conduct abominable, the Psalmist uses the stronger expression,
they have made iniquity abominable, or done abominably (in their) wickedness.
3 (2). God from heaven has looked down on the sons of man, to see if there
is (any) acting wisely, seeking God. See above, on Ps. xiv. 2. The only
240
PSALM LIII.
[VER. 3-6.
difference in the Hebrew of these verses is that the name Elohim is here
substituted for Jehovah. The same change occurs below, in ver. 5, 6, 7
(4, 5, 6). The name Jehovah is not used at all in the psalm before us, but
occurs four times in Ps. xiv., and Elohim thrice. This difference seems to
mark Ps. liii. as the later composition, in which the writer aimed at an external uniformity, which did not occur to him at first. This is a much more
natural supposition than that he afterwards varied what was uniform at first.
The attempts which have been made to account, still more particularly, for
the use of the divine names in these two psalms, have entirely failed.
4 (3). All of it has apostatised; together they have putrefied; there is none
doing good; there is not even one. See above, on Ps. xiv. 3. For all of it
we there have the whole, i. e. the whole human race. The same thing seems
to be intended by the more obscure phrase, all of it, in which the pronoun
may refer to man, in the collective sense of mankind or the human race.
The idea of departure from God, apostasy, is expressed in the parallel places
by two verbs almost identical in form (rs and gs), the one of which means
properly to turn aside and the other to turn back.
5 (4). Do they not know—(these) workers of iniquity—eating my people
(as) they eat bread—(and on) God call not? See above, on Ps. xiv. 4. The
only variation here, besides the change of the divine name which has been
already mentioned, is the omission of the all before workers of iniquity.
This has been noted by some critics as the only case in which the language
of the fourteenth psalm is stronger than the parallel expression of the fifty-third.
6 (5). There have they feared a fear, because God hath scattered the bones
of thy besieger; thou hast put (them) to shame, because God hath rejected
them. See above, on Ps. xiv. 5, 6. The design to strengthen the expression is particularly clear in this case, where two verses are compresed into one, and the other changes all enhance the emphasis. Thus,
instead of a general assurance of divine protection, God is in the righteous generation, we have here a description of their enemies' destruction, in the most poetical and striking terms, God hath scattered the
bones of thy besieger, literally thy encamper, him that encampeth against
thee. So, too, instead of the complaint, that the wicked treat the faith
of pious sufferers with contempt—the counsel of the sufferer ye will shame,
because Jehovah is his refuge—we have here the tables turned upon
the scoffers by the scorn both of God and man—thou host put to shame
(the individuals included in the collective phrase thy besieger), because God
has rejected them, an act implying both abhorrence and contempt. In this,
which is by far the most considerable variation of the two editions, the
existence of design is so apparent, that the supposition of an inadvertent
or fortuitous corruption seems preposterous. So far are the two psalms
from being contradictory. or even inconsistent, that they might be sung
together, by alternate or responsive choirs, with the happiest effect. Nothing can be more
natural, therefore, than the supposition that David gave the psalm this new shape, to
express the same essential feelings in a higher degree, and a more emphatic form.
7 (6). Who will give out of Zion salvations (to) Israel—in God's returning (to) the captivity of his people—let Jacob exult, let Israel joy! See
above, on Ps. xiv. 7. The only variations are the change of Jehovah to
Elohim, and of the singular salvation to its plural, denoting variety and
fulness. See above, on Ps. xviii. 51 (50). The exact translation is salvations of Israel, and the meaning of the next clause, "when God revisits (or
in God's revisiting) his captive people."
VER. 1-4.]
PSALM LIV.
241
PSALM LIV.
1. To the Chief Musician. With (or on) stringed instruments. A
didactic psalm. By David. This is the title of Ps. iv., but with a change
of the generic term mizmor to the specific one maschil. See above, on Ps.
liii. 1. According to some modern interpreters, the plural neginoth does
not denote a plurality of stringed instruments, but simply that kind of
music, with its complex variety of tones. The psalm consists of a prayer
for deliverance from wicked enemies, ver. 3-5 (1-3), with a confident anticipation of success, and a promise of thanksgiving, ver. 6-9 (4-7). As to
the numbering of the verses, see above, on Ps. li. 1, lii. 1.
2. In the coming of the Ziphites, and they said to Saul, (Is) not David
hiding himself with us? The verse gives the historical occasion of the composition, in the same form as in the titles of Ps. li. and lii. Such an occurrence
is twice recorded in the history, 1 Sam. xxiii. 19, xxvi. 1. The verbal coincidence is greater in the first case. The words of the Ziphites seem to have
been remembered on account of some peculiarity in the expression, perhaps the use of the reflexive participle (rTeTas;mi), which remains unchanged
in all three places, the earliest of which is probably the one before us.
The interrogation implies surprise that Saul should be ignorant of what
was so notorious. Hiding himself, now engaged in doing so, not merely
wont to do so, or already hidden. With us, among us, or in our land, i. e.
the wilderness or pasture ground of Ziph (1 Sam. xxiii. 14, 15), in or
near which was a town of the same name (Josh. xv. 55, 2 Chron. xi. 8),
the ruins of which are thought to be still visible, not far from what the
natives call Tell Ziph, or the Hill of Ziph. (Robinson's Palestine, II. 191.)
3 (1). O God, by thy name save me, and by thy might thou wilt judge me.
The insensible transition from the imperative to the future shews the confidence with which the prayer is offered. By thy name, i. e. the exercise
of those perfections which have been already manifested. See above, on
Ps. lii. 11 (9). That it is not a mere periphrasis for God himself, is clear
from the parallel expression, might or power. Judge me, do me justice,
vindicate my innocence, by saving me from spiteful enemies and false
accusers. See above, on Ps. vii. 9 (8), xxvi. 1.
4 (2). O God, hear my prayer, give ear to the sayings of my mouth. See
above, on Ps. iv. 2 (1), v. 2 (1).
5 (3). For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek my soul
(or life); they have not set God before them. Selah. To the earnest
petitions in the two preceding verses he now adds a particular description
of his danger. Strangers, not foreigners, but aliens in spirit, both to him
and to Jehovah, with special reference to Saul. See below, on Ps. cxx. 5.
Oppressors, persecutors, tyrants. The original expression implies the possession of power, and its lawless exercise. See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 35.
Not to set God before them is to act as if they did not remember or believe
in his existence and his presence. The Selah indicates a pause of indignation and abhorrence. See above, on Ps. lii. 5 (3).
6 (4). Behold, God (is) a helper for me; the Lord is among the upholders
of my soul. From the party of his enemies he looks to that of his defenders, and joyfully recognises God, not merely with, but in (the midst of)
them, among them. The behold is expressive of surprise, and at the same
time of a perspicacious faith. With the form of expression in the first
clause, compare Ps. xxx. 11 (10); with the second Ps. cxviii. 7, Judges
242
PSALM LIV.
[VER. 5-7.
xi. 35. The upholders of his soul are the defenders of his life against
those who seek it. See above, ver. 5 (3). Adhonai, the divine name
properly translated Lord, because expressive of God's sovereignty. It is
peculiarly appropriate here, where he is claiming God as his protector.
7 (5). The evil shall return to my enemies; in thy truth destroy them.
The future here runs into the imperative, as the imperative does into the
future in ver. 3 (1), above. The imperative in this case is only a stronger
form of prediction. The evil, which they mean to do me. Return to, or
upon them, i. e. shall befall themselves. See above, on Ps. vii. 17 (16),
This is the sense required by the reading in the text (bvwy), which the
modern critics commonly regard as the most ancient. The marginal or
masoretic reading (bywy) must be rendered, he will cause to return, repay,
requite. Thy truth, the truth of thy promises and threatenings, thy veracity. See above, on Ps. xxx. 10 (9). The certain foresight of the doom
of the wicked, which is expressed in the first clause, makes the prayer (if
such it be considered) in the first clause a mere iteration of the previous
threatening. A prayer that God will do what we are certain that he will do can be
little more than an expression of that certainty. See above, on Ps. v. 11 (10).
8 (6). With a free-will offering will I sacrifice unto thee; I will praise
thy name, Jehovah, for it is good. In the confident assurance of a favourable answer to his prayer, he promises a suitable acknowledgment. See
above, on Ps. v. 8 (7). A free-will or voluntary offering, as opposed to
one prescribed by law, not to one rendered obligatory by a vow, for then a
voluntary offering would in this case be impossible. The Hebrew word is
the technical term applied to such an offering in the law. See Lev. vii. 16,
xxii. 23, and compare Exod. xxv. 2, xxxv. 29, Num. xv. 3. With the
last clause compare Ps. lii. 11 (9).
9 (7). For out of all distress he hath delivered me, and on my enemies my
eye has looked. In his confident assurance of a favourable issue, he speaks
of it, though future, as already past. The sudden change of person, may
be avoided by translating the first verb, it (i. e. thy name) has delivered me,
according to the prayer in ver. 3 (1). My eye has looked or gazed, with an
implication of delight, or at least of acquiescence, which is commonly conveyed by this construction. See above, on Ps. 1. 23. This kind of satisfaction in the execution of God's threatenings is sinful only when combined
with selfish malignity. Apart from this corrupt admixture, it is inseparable
from conformity of will and coincidence of judgment with God. The same
kind and degree of acquiescence which is felt by holy angels in heaven may
surely be expressed by saints on earth, especially in their collective capacity as a church, in whose name the Psalmist is here speaking, and not
merely in his own or that of any other individual.
PSALM LV.
1. To the Chief Musician. With (or on) stringed instruments A
didactic psalm. By David. The psalm is designated as a Maschil, because it might at first sight seem to have relation merely to a case of
personal maltreatment and distress, whereas it is a general descriptio:a of
the sufferings of God's people, or the righteous as a class, at the hands of
false friends and malignant enemies. Although there seem to be allusions
to the writer's own experience, in the times both of Saul and Absalom, the
VER. 1-5.]
PSALM LV.
243
whole description can be applied exclusively to neither. The only natural
division of the psalm is the one suggested by the fact, that in the first part
the sufferer complains of his enemies in general, ver. 2-12 (1-11); in the
second, he singles out the case of one who had seemed to be his friend,
but treacherously turned against him, ver. 13-16 (12-15); in the third,
he confidently anticipates his own deliverance and the destruction of his
enemies, ver. 17-26 (16-25).
2 (1.) Give ear, O God, to my prayer, and hide not thyself from my supplication. This is the general introductory petition, which is afterwards
amplified and rendered more specific. The last word strictly means a cry
or prayer for mercy. See above, on Ps. 10 (9). To hide one's self is
an expression used in the law to describe the act of wilfully withholding aid
from one who needs it. See Deut. xxii. 1-4, and compare Isa. lviii. 7.
3 (2). Hearken to me and answer me; I will give loose to my thought,
and I will make a noise. The first verb means to attend, especially to one
speaking, to listen, to hearken. See above, on Ps. v. 3 (2), x. 17, xvii. 1.
Answer or hear, in the sense of of receiving a prayer favourably. See above,
on Ps. iii. 5 (4), xxxviii. 16 (15). The literal translation of the next words
is, I will suffer to wander itt my thinking, i. e. I will let my mind wander,
or my thoughts rove as they will. He is resolved not only to think freely
but to express his thoughts aloud. The same use of the Hebrew verb
occurs in Micah ii. 12. The thinking or meditation here meant is reflection
on his sufferings, to which the Hebrew verb is specially applied. With the
whole verse, and with this clause in particular, compare Job vii. 11.
4 (3). From the voice of the enemy, from before the persecution of the wicked;
for they will shake over me iniquity, and in wrath will oppose me. He now
declares from what his distress arises. The preposition, in Hebrew as in
English, has a causal meaning, or at lest suggests a relation of cause and
effect. From the voice, i. e. because of it. From before or from the face
conveys the same idea still more strongly, by a kind of personification of
the evil dreaded. Persecution of the wicked: compare the oppression of the
enemy, in Ps. xlii. 10 (9). Shake over me, or cause to slide upon me, a
striking figure for the wilful infliction of evil on another. Iniquity may
here be put, as it sometimes is, for active wickedness towards others, the
cause of suffering rather than suffering itself. With this clause compare Ps. xli. 9 (8).
Oppose me, be my adversaries, whether in the way of resistance or assault. The Hebrew
verb is a cognate form to that from which comes Satan or the Adversary.
5 (4). My heart writhes in the midst of me, and terrors of death have
fallen upon me. The future form of the first verb implies an apprehension
that the pain will continue and be permanent. In the midst of me, inside
of me, within me. He is not merely involved in outward troubles, but
pained at heart. Terrors of death might be strictly understood as meaning
fear or dread of death; but it agrees better with the strong figurative language of the first clause, to take it in the sense of deadly, mortal terrors.
An analogous expression is death-shade or shadow of death. See above, on
Ps. xxiii. 4, xliv. 20 (19). The figure of falling necessarily suggests the
idea of infliction by a superior power.
6 (5). Fear and trembling enter into me, and horror hath covered me. The
future in the first clause represents the action as not yet completed, and
might be rendered, they are entering or about to enter. The Hebrew verb
with this preposition denotes more than come upon; it describes the terror
as not only on him but within him. The word translated horror is a
244
PSALM LV.
[VER. 6-10.
stronger synonyme of trembling, and might be translated shuddering or a
shudder. Covered me, i. e. overspread or overwhelmed me.
7 (6). And I said, who will give me a pinion like the dove? I will fly
away and be at rest. This is equivalent to saying, if I had the pinions of a
dove, I would fly away, &c. Who will give is an idiomatic optative expression, tantamount to saying, Oh that I had, &c. See above, on Ps. xiv. 7.
The word translated pinion properly denotes the penna major or flag-feather
of a bird's wing, and is here put poetically for the wings themselves. The
two last verbs are in the paragogic or augmented form, expressing strong
desire or settled purpose. See above, on Ps. ii. 3. The last verb usually
means to dwell, but has either the primary or secondary sense of reposing,
resting. See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 3. The first verb is immediately dependent on the last of the preceding verse, a grammatical relation which
may be expressed thus in our idiom: "horror hath covered me so that I say," &c.
8 (7). Lo, I will wander far, I will lodge in the wilderness. Selah. The
lo or behold is tantamount to pointing with the finger, or to saying there!
see there! The next phrase is highly idiomatic and literally means, "I
will make remote to wander." To lodge is here to take up one's abode, to
dwell, as in Ps. xxv. 13. The wilderness, not necessarily a barren desert,
but an uninhabited region, the essential idea here being that of separation
from human society, a strong though indirect mode of affirming its extreme
corruption. The strength of the feeling which prompted this desire is indicated by a solemn pause.
9 (8). I will hasten my escape from rushing wind, from tempest. Another
construction of the first clause makes the verb intransitive and the noun a
local one, as indicated by its form, I will hasten (to) my refuge. It is
better, however, to give the hiphil verb its proper meaning, and nouns of
the form here used denote not only the place of action bnt the act itself.
My escape, literally an escape for me or for myself. The preposition in the
last clause, though it properly means from, is constantly employed in
Hebrew to denote or indicate comparison. If thus explained in this case,
it would make the clause descriptive of the speed with which he wishes to
escape, more than the rushing wind and tempest. This sense is preferred
by some interpreters; but the other is more obvious and simple, and is also
recommended by the frequent representation of calamity under the figure
of a storm or tempest, which would hardly have been joined with that of
wind, if the only idea meant to be conveyed had been that of great velocity.
10 (9). Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongue; for I have seen violence and
strife in the city. The first word properly means swallow up. See above,
on Ps. xxi. 10 (9). The object to be supplied is not their tongue but themselves. Divide their tongue, i. e. confound their speech or make it unintelligible, and as a necessary consequence confound their counsels. There is
obvious reference to the confusion of tongues at Babel (Gen. xi. 7-9), as a
great historical example of the way in which God is accustomed and determined to defeat the purposes of wicked men and execute his own. The
word translated cruelty denotes violent injustice, or injustice accompanied
by violence. See above, on Ps. vii. 17 (16). In the city is supposed by
some to mean nothing more than among men, in human society; but the
words could hardly fail to suggest to any Hebrew reader the idea of the
holy city, as the place directly meant, although the words themselves may
be applied to any other place where the same state of things exist.
11 (10). Day and night they will surround her on her wall; and iniquity
VER. 11-13.]
PSALM LV.
245
and trouble will be in the midst of her. The Violence and Strife of the
preceding verse are here personified as a besieging enemy. At the same
time the interior is occupied by Iniquity and Trouble, no less formidable
enemies. Her walls, those of the city mentioned in the foregoing verse.
Iniquity and trouble are here, and often elsewhere, put together as cause
and effect, the last denoting the distress or trouble which the wickedness of
one man brings upon another. See above, on Ps. vii. 15 (14),
12 (11). Mischiefs (are) in the midst of her, and from her street will not
depart oppression and deceit, The first word in Hebrew necessarily suggests the two ideas of calamities and crimes, i. e. calamities occasioned by
the crimes of others. See above, on Ps. v. 10 (9), xxxviii. 13 (12),
lii. 4, 9 (2, 7). The word translated street denotes a wide place, and is
specially applied to the square or open space surrounding the gates of
oriental cities, and used both for markets and for courts of justice. See
Neh. viii. 1, 3, 16. The word therefore very nearly corresponds to the
Greek agora and the Latin forum, and may be here used to suggest the idea both
of legal and commercial malfeasance. Neither their markets nor their courts
are ever free from these two forms of gross injustice, namely, fraud and violence.
13 (12). For (it is) not an enemy (that) will revile me, else would I bear
it; (it is) not one hating me (that) has magnified (himself) against me, else
would I hide myself from him. The Hebrew word answering to else, is, in
both these cases, the usual copulative particle, and the original construction
seems to be, and (if it is) I will bear it, and (if it is) I will hide myself.
See above, on Ps. li. 18 (16). The act of reviling here includes both
calumny and insult. The future in the first clause suggests the idea of an
indignity or injury about to be endured. As if he had said, "when I go
forth among my neighbours, it is not my open enemy that will malign me."
But that such treatment had already been experienced, is intimated by the
preterite of the last clause. The verb to magnify is here used reflexively
or absolutely, as in Ps. xxxv. 26, xxxviii. 15 (16). There is no need therefore
of supposing an ellipsis, or identifying this form of expression with the one
in Ps. xli. 10 (9). Hide myself, literally be hidden; but the passive forms
in Hebrew not unfrequently imply a reflex act, like the middle voice in
Greek. The negation in this verse is of course not absolute but relative,
and must be qualified by due regard to the circumstances of the case.
That he was reproached and threatened by avowed enemies, is not only a
frequent subject of complaint elsewhere, but sufficiently implied in ver.
4 (3) above. The true solution of this seeming contradiction is, that
he here passes from a general description of the prevalent iniquity to a
particular case, in which his feelings were personally interested. In this
particular case, it was not an open enemy that slandered or insulted him.
It is therefore as if he had said, "But it is not of this open and unblushing
wickedness that I especially complain, but rather of the perfidy of false
friends." Thus understood, the verse, instead of contradicting ver. 4 (3),
presupposes what is there affirmed.
14 (13). But thou, a man mine equal, my associate, my acquaintance. It
is a striking illustration of the difference between the Hebrew and English
idiom, that the former uses and at the beginning of this sentence, where in
English but is absolutely indispensable. The word for man is that denoting frailty and mortality. See above, on Ps. viii. 5 (4), ix. 20, 21 (19, 20),
x. 18. But it seems to be used here without any emphasis, in simple apposition with what follows, or as a vocative, thou, O man, mine equal. This
246
PSALM LV.
[VER. 14-16.
last expression is in Hebrew, according to my valuation, the noun being a
technical term of the Mosaic Law, denoting the official estimation of the
priest, in certain cases of redemption or pecuniary penalty. See Lev.
v. 15, 18, xxvii. 12. The whole phrase here employed is understood by
some to mean one whom I value, i. e. highly, or more specifically, one whom
I value as myself. More probably, however, it means one who is (or may
be) estimated at the same rate with myself, which is precisely the idea
conveyed by the common version, my equal, one of my own rank and circle,
my associate. This last is the sense put by the modern interpreters on the
next word in Hebrew. The old translation (guide) rests on a doubtful
etymology, and the authority of the ancient versions. (LXX h[gemw<n Vulg.
dux). Acquaintance seems to be a weaker expression than the others; but
the Hebrew word always implies very intimate association. See above, Ps.
xxxi. 12 (11), and below, Ps. lxxxviii. 9, 19 (8, 18).
15 (14). (With) whom we take sweet counsel; in the house of God we march
with noise. The future forms can only be accounted for by supposing that
he here anticipates a violation of the laws of friendship which had not yet
visibly occurred. The false friend, of whom he is complaining, seems to
be one with whom he is still intimate, but whose defection he clearly fore
saw. As if he had said, "With this man I must still continue to be associated, although he is eventually to betray me." In this particular, the
case described resembles that of our Lord and Judas Iscariot, which may
indeed be considered as included in the general description. The form of
the first clause is idiomatic and peculiar: who (or as to whom) together we
will sweeten counsel, or rather confidential intercourse. See above, on Ps.
xxv. 14. The other clause may possibly mean, we march to the house of
God. But the strict sense of the particle may be retained and the whole
referred to solemn processions within the sacred enclosure or court of the
tabernacle. With noise, i. e. with festive tumult. See above, on Ps.xlii. 5 (4).
16 (15) Desolations (are) upon them! They shall go down to Sheol alive!
For evils are in their dwellings, in their heart. The optative form given to
this sentence in most versions is entirely gratuitous. All that the Hebrew
words express is a confident anticipation. The common version of the first
words (let death seize upon them) is founded on the masoretic reading (xyw.iya
tv,mA); but the best critics now prefer the older reading in the text
(tOmywiy;), which, instead of a verb and a singular noun, exhibits one noun
in the plural number, meaning desolations, and agreeing with the substantive verb understood. Upon them, hovering or impending over them.
Sheol, the grave, the state of the dead, the wide old English sense of hell.
See above, on Ps. vi. 6 (5). There is an obvious allusion to another great
historical type of God's retributory judgments, the destruction of Korah
and his company, who went down alive into the pit, Num. xvi. 33. The
word quick, in the common English version of this sentence, is an adjective synonymous with living or alive, and not an adverb meaning soon or
swiftly. Evils, i. e. evil deeds and evil thoughts. In their heart, or inside,
inner part, as in Ps. v. 10 (9), xlix. 12 (11): This is a much better sense
than in the midst of them, among them.
17 (16). I to God will call, and Jehovah will save me. The pronoun is
emphatic, I on my part. While they are brought to desolation and to
death, I, on the contrary, will call to God. If the use of two divine names
has any significance beyond the requisitions of the parallelism, the meaning
VER. 17-19.]
PSALM LV.
247
may be, "I will call to God, and as the covenant God of Israel he will
save me." Compare Ps. xviii. 4 (3).
18 (17). Evening and morning and noon I will muse and murmur—and
he has heard my voice. The first clause is supposed by some to prove that
the observance of three stated hours of prayer was as old as David; others
suppose the observance to have been suggested by the clause itself. But
the natural and obvious division of the day here mentioned may have given
occasion both to the clause and the observance. Muse and murmur is a
combination descriptive of prayer, both as mentally conceived and audibly
expressed. Murmur is perhaps not strong enough to convey the full sense
of the Hebrew verb, which elsewhere means to make a loud noise. See
above, on Ps. xlii. 6, 12 (5, 11), xlvi. 4, 7 (3, 6). The assimilation or
confusion of the tenses in this verse by some translators is not only arbitrary but injurious to the sense. What is mentioned in the first clause as
still future is recorded in the last clause as already past. As if he had
said, "Thus did I resolve to pray, and now my prayer has been already
made and answered." Such transitions are among the characteristic
beauties of the Psalter, and ought not to be gratuitously sacrificed, still less
at the expense of violating usage and the rules of grammar.
19 (18). He redeemed in peace my soul from the war against me, for
many were with me. In peace, or with peace, as the result of this redemption. Against me, literally to me, the war that was to me, that I had.
The last clause, to an English ear, conveys the idea that his friends or
champions were many, but the meaning of the Hebrew is directly opposite,
with me being used in such connections to denote a relation of hostility, as we speak of
fighting, quarrelling, contending with one. In either case, the particle expresses really no
more than joint or simultaneous action, the idea of enmity or opposition being gathered
from the context. The literal translation of the last clause is, in many were (those) with
me, i. e. consisting in many. The adverse party was composed of many individuals. This
usage of the in is strictly appropriate only to numerals. See Deut. x. 22, xxviii. 62.
20 (19). God will hear and answer them, and (He) inhabiting antiquity
(will hear and answer those) to whom there are no changes, and (who) fear
not God. As he has heard me in mercy, so will he hear them in wrath.
As he has answered my prayer in the way described above, ver 19 (18), so
will he answer them in the way described below, ver. 24 (23). In
this case, what is heard and answered is not prayer, but the voice of the
enemy, ver. 4 (3), and his malignant slanders, ver. 13 (12). Inhabiting
antiquity, or as the English Bible phrases it, he that abideth of old. The
first Hebrew verb, however, could not fail to suggest its primary meaning,
which is to sit, and more especially to sit enthroned, as a sovereign and a
judge. See above, on Ps. ix. 5, 12 (4, 11). The phrase may therefore be
said to represent God as having been a king and a judge from the remotest
antiquity. The last clause is by some supposed to mean, that the persons
here referred to undergo no moral change, but still persist in their refusal
to fear God; by others, that they undergo no outward changes, no vicissitudes of fortune, and for that reason will not fear him. But as the word
translated changes is repeatedly employed by Job in a military sense, to
signify either an alternate service, as, for instance, in relieving guard, or a
succession in the service, as when one corps is disbanded and another takes
its place, some of the best interpreters suppose this clause to mean that
those enlisted in this evil warfare have no such reliefs or discharges to
expect, but must continue in the unremitting service of sin, and as a neces-
248
PSALM LV.
[VER. 20-22.
nary consequence cannot fear God. The grammatical structure of the whole
verse is peculiar, and can be made intelligible only by supplying the ellipsis.
21 (20). He has stretched out his hands against his allies: he has profaned his covenant. This might seem at first sight to refer to God; but
such a reference, if not forbidden by the nature of the acts alleged, would
be at variance with the subsequent context, where the subject is undoubtedly
the wicked enemy. The sudden change of number is in strict accordance
with the usage of the Psalmists in speaking of their enemies, or in this
case may arise from the same cause as in ver. 13 (12) above. See above,
on Ps. x. 10. The word translated allies is the plural of one meaning
peace, but seems to be poetically used here to denote those at peace with
him, his friends or allies. Compare the analogous expressions in Ps. vii.
5 (4), xli. 10 (9). To profane a covenant is to treat it as no longer sacred,
and by implication to break it. Compare Isa. xxxiii. 8. This is a varied
repetition, under military figures, of the description in ver. 13-15 (12-14).
22 (21) Smooth are the butterings of his mouth, and (yet) war (is in) his
heart; soft are his words, more than oil, and (yet even) they are drawn
(swords). To the charge of violence he adds that of treacherous hypocrisy,
thus amplifying the laconic phrase oppression and deceit, in ver. 12 (11)
above. The English Bible, following some older versions, assimilates the
clauses by making both comparative, smoother than butter, softer than oil.
But in order to sustain this construction of the first clause, it is necessary
to change the pointing of one Hebrew word, and to supply another as the
nominative of the plural verb, which cannot without violence agree with
mouth. The letter prefixed to the first noun is a part of it, and not a
particle meaning than or more than, and the whole word denotes preparations of butter, cream, or rather curdled milk, which is the meaning of the
primitive noun. As to the adversative use of and in both these clauses,
see above, on ver. 14 (13). War (is in) his heart, or still more simply,
because not requiring the insertion of the particle, war (is) his heart, i. e.
his cherished wish and purpose. The word translated war is a poetical
term, the same that is employed above in ver. 19 (18). In the last clause,
even is supplied as well as yet, in order to convey, as far as possible, the
emphasis of the Hebrew pronoun. And they themselves, i. e. the very oily
words just mentioned, are drawn swords. This last expression is in
Hebrew properly an adjective or participial form, but is specifically used in
application to the sword, as brandished is in English, and so comes to be employed
absolutely or as a substantive, expressing the entire complex idea of drawn swords, as
weapons of attack, ready for use or on the point of being used forthwith.
23 (22). Cast upon Jehovah (what) he gives thee, and he will sustain
thee; he will never suffer the righteous to be moved. What he gives thee to
endure, what he lays upon thee, cast thou upon him, by trusting in bim.
The phrase he gives thee (or has given thee) may also be explained as a noun
with a possessive pronoun, thy gift, not in the active sense of what thou
givest, but in the passive sense of what is given to thee. Sustain does not
here mean to hold up or support under the burden, but to nourish or sus
tain life by administering food and other necessaries, to provide for. Compare the primitive use of the Hebrew verb in Gen. xlv. 11, xlvii. 12,1. 21.
The common version of the last clause above given is a correct paraphrase
of the original, the form of which is highly idiomatic. A literal translation
would be, he will not give for ever moving (or movement) to the righteous.
The verb to give is often used in Hebrew in the sense of allowing or per-
VER. 1.]
PSALM LVI.
249
mitting. The word translated moving is the one so often used to signify
the violent disturbance of a person in the midst of his prosperity. See
above, on PS. x. 6, xvi. 8, &c.
24 (23). And thou, God, wilt bring them down to the pit of corruption;
men of blood and fraud shall not live out half their days. The first verb is
a causative, and as such may be rendered, thou wilt cause them to descend.
The word translated pit is the common term in Hebrew for a well, but is
here used in a wile sense, including all such excavations. The next word is
(tHawa), a derivative of the verb (tHawA) to corrupt or destroy. The sense
of pit, as if derived from the verb (HaUw) to sink, would convert the phrase
into a weak tautology. See above, on Ps. xvi. 10. Men of bloods and
deceit, i. e. bloody (or murderous) and deceitful men, as in Ps. v. 7 (6)
above. The literal translation of the last words is, they shall not halve their
days, a form of expression copied in the margin of the English Bible, as
well as in the Septuagint (h[miseu<swsi) and Vulgate (dimidiabunt). The
meaning of course is, that they shall not live half so long as they might
have lived, but for their bloody and deceitful acts. This is not asserted as
a general fact, but uttered as a threatening to the murderers and traitors
whom the Psalmist had directly in his eye.
PSALM LVI.
AFTER the title, ver. 1, comes a general petition for deliverance from
persecution and oppression, ver. 2, 3 (1, 2), followed by a strong expression of trust in God, ver. 4, 5 (3, 4), a description of the malice of the
enemy, ver. 6, 7 (5, 6), and a confident anticipation of his punishment,
ver. 8-10 (7-9), founded on faith in the divine promise, ver. 11, 12
(10, 11), and a vow or resolution to make due acknowledgment of the
mercy experienced, ver. 12, 13 (11, 12).
1. To the Chief Musician. Upon Jonath-elem-rehokim. By David.
Mich tam. When the Philistines took him in Gath. The last clause of this
inscription seems to refer to the incident recorded in 1 Sam. xxi. See
above, on Ps. xxxiv. 1. An enigmatical allusion to the same event seems
to be latent in the obscure phrase, Jonath-elem-rehokim, in which the first
word means a dove, a favourite emblem of suffering innocence; the second
means silence, dumbness, sometimes put for uncomplaining submission;
and the third means distant or remote, agreeing with places or persons,
probably the latter, in which sense it is applicable to the Philistines, as
aliens in blood and religion. Compare Ps. xxxviii. 14 (13), lvi. 2 (1),
lxv. 6 (5), lxxiv. 19. Thus understood, the whole is an enigmatical description of David as an innocent and uncomplaining sufferer among strangers.
For the most probable etymology and sense of Michtam, see above, on Ps. xvi. 1.
2 (1). .Be merciful unto me, O God, for man pants for me (or is gaping
after me); all the day, he devouring (or the devourer) is pressing on me.
The word for man is that denoting human frailty and implying the unreasonableness of such rage in one so impotent. See above, on Ps. ix. 20, 21
(19, 20), x. 18. The image here presented is that of a devouring monster
or voracious beast. Instead of pants or gapes, some suppose the second
verb to mean snorts or snaps, as an animal expression of rage. For the
meaning of the word translated devouring, see above, on Ps. xxxv. 1.
Pressing on me, or pressing me. See Num. xxii. 25.
250
PSALM LVI.
[VER. 2-8.
3 (2). My enemies have gaped upon me all the day; for (there are) many
devourers to me, O most High. The word translated enemies is that supposed by some to mean spies or watchers. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 11,
liv. 7 (5). Having first spoken of his enemy in the singular number, he
now substitutes the plural, to explain which seems to be the object of the
last clause. "I say enemies, because my devourers are many." The last
word in the verse strictly means a high place, and particularly heaven, but
is sometimes applied to God himself. See below, on Ps. xcii. 9 (8).
Some interpreters, however, understand it as an abstract noun meaning
loftiness or pride, and then used as an adverb in the sense of arrogantly,
proudly. Compare Ps. lxxiii. 8.
4 (3). The day I am afraid, unto thee will I confide. The complaint is
followed, as in many other cases, by an expression of his confidence in God.
The day I am afraid is an unusual expression, meaning simply when I am
afraid, and probably belonging to the dialect of poetry. Unto thee suggests
the act of turning and looking towards the quarter from which help is expected. The same form of expression occurs above, Ps. iv. 6 (5), xxxi. 7 (6).
5 (4). In God I will praise his word, in God I have trusted; I will not
fear; what can flesh do unto me? The meaning of the first clause seems
to be, that in the general praise of God he will include a particular acknowledgment of his gracious word or promise upon this occasion. The construction of the last clause in the English Bible, I will not fear what flesh
can do unto me, gives substantially the same sense, but does not agree so
well with the masoretic interpunction of the sentence. Flesh, humanity, as
opposed to deity. See below, on Ps. lxv. 3 (2), and compare Isa. xxii. 3, xl. 6.
6 (5). All the day my words they wrest; against me (are) all their thoughts
for evil. The word translated wrest means strictly vex or pain, but is here
used in the sense of twisting or distorting language by putting false constructions on it. Thoughts, purposes; designs. For evil, tending to my
injury.
7 (6). They will gather, they will hide—they, my supplanters, will watch,
as they have (already) waited for my soul. They will gather or combine against
me. They will hide (themselves or their devices), they will plot, or lie in wait,
for my destruction. The common explanation of the next phrase, they mark
my steps or my heels, does not account for the emphatic pronoun they. The
Hebrew word has probably the same sense as in Ps. xlix. 6 (5) above.
Waited for my soul or life, i. e. waited to destroy it.
8 (7). By iniquity (there is) escape to them; in anger bring down nations,
O God! The first clause is obscure, but may mean either that they have
hitherto escaped by their iniquity, or that they now depend, rely upon it
for deliverance. The interrogative construction commonly adopted ought
not to be assumed, in the absence of an interrogative particle, without a
decided exegetical necessity. The Hebrew particle at the beginning sometimes indicates the means or instrument, with the additional idea of dependence or reliance, as in the English phrase to live on bread and water. See
Gen. xxvii. 40.
9 (8). My wanderings thou hast told; put thou my tears into thy bottle;
are they not in thy book? The Hebrew words for wanderings and tears are
both in the singular number. See above, on Ps. vi. 7 (6), xxxix. 13 (12).
The first of these words suggests the ideas of flight and exile, and may contain an allusion to the wanderings of Cain in a country designated by this
very word, The Land of Nod, Gen. iv. 16, although this phrase may really
VER. 9-13.]
PSALM LVI.
251
mean nothing more than the land of (his) banishment or exile. The English
word told is here retained because the Hebrew one is equally ambiguous.
In this case the primary idea is to count or number. See above, Ps. xxii.
17 (16), xl. 5 (4), xlviii. 13 (12). The act of counting implies particular
attention. The idea of recollection is expressed by the strong figure which
follows, put my tears into thy bottle, i. e. preserve them in thy memory.
This singular metaphor is thought by some to have been suggested by the
word for wandering (dno or dOn), which is almost identical with that for
bottle (dxno). The latter strictly means a skin or leathern bottle, such as
is still used in the East. See below, on Ps. cxix. 83. The interrogation
in the last clause has the force of a direct assertion. Thy book, the book of thy
remembrance, another figurative expression for the memory itself. Compare Mal. iii. 16.
10 (9). Then shall my enemies turn back, in the day I call; this I know,
that God is for me. The particle of time at the beginning of the verse has
reference to what follows, in the day I call, but as this was to be connected
closely with the last clause, the natural order of the sentence was inverted.
Turn back, be repulsed, defeated, disappointed. See above, on Ps. vii. 12
(11), ix. 4 (3). in the day (that) I shall call: the ellipsis of the relative is
equally common in Hebrew and in English. Call may mean simply call
for help or pray; but some connect it with the last clause thus: in the day
that I shall call (or cry as follows) "this I know," &c. There is also an
ambiguity in the phrase this I know, which may either mean, "I know that
my enemies shall thus turn back, because God is for me," or, "my enemies
shall turn back when they hear me cry. This much I know, to wit, that God
is for me." The last phrase may be also rendered to me he belongs to me,
he is my God, which of course includes the idea of his favour or his being
on the speaker's side.
11 (10). In God I will praise (this) word; in Jehovah I will praise (this)
word. This unusual form of speech must have the same sense as in ver. 5
(4) above. Some understand it to mean by God's help, others, in union with
God, I will praise (his) word. But on the whole, the most natural explanation still seems to be, "what I shall particularly praise in God, both as
God, and as the tutelary God of Israel and my own, is the word of promise,
which he has uttered and fulfilled in this case."
12 (11). In God have I trusted; I will not fear; what can man do unto
me? As the foregoing verse is a resumption and emphatic iteration of the
first clause of ver. 5 (4), so this seems to bear the same relation to the last
clause of that same verse. The only variation in the form of expression is
the substitution of the literal term man, (or mankind) for the more obscure
term flesh. See above, on ver. 5 (4). Here again it is a possible construction, although not so agreeable to the masoretic accents, to make the interrogation an oblique one. "I will not fear what man can do unto me."
13 (12). Upon me, O God, (are) thy vows; I will pay thanksgiving unto
thee. The first clause represents his vows or voluntary obligations as incumbent on himself and due to God, and he resolves to discharge them by thanksgivings,
not merely verbal acknowledgments, but sacrificial tokens of his gratitude, such as
were familiar to the ancient saints and recognised in the Law of Moses.
14 (13). For thou hast delivered my soul from death; (wilt thou) not
(deliver) my feet from falling, to walk before God in the light of life? The
ellipsis in the second clause may also be supplied as follows, hast thou not
delivered? as the only terms expressed are those of interrogation and nega-
252
PSALM LVII.
[VER. 1.
tion. The word translated falling is a very strong one, and means thrusting,
casting down. The verbal root occurs above, in Ps. xxxv. 5, xxxvi. 13 (12).
To walk before God is to live in the enjoyment of his favour and protection.
The light of life is opposed to the darkness of death. It may also be and
usually is translated, in the light of the living, i e. the light which living
men enjoy. See above, on Ps. xxvii. 13.
PSALM LVII.
IN the first part of this psalm a sufferer describes his own afflictions,
occasioned by the malice of his enemies, and earnestly prays to be delivered
from them, ver. 2-5 (1-4). In the second he anticipates a favourable.
answer to his prayer, and praises God for it, ver. 6-12 (5-11).
1. To the Chief Musician. Destroy not. By David. A Secret. When
he fled from before Saul in the cave. The enigmatical inscription, Al-tashheth, destroy not, reappears in the titles of the next two psalms, and of the
seventy-fifth. As in other cases of the same kind, some interpreters regard
it as a musical expression, others as the first words of a well-known poem,
to the air of which this was to be sung. The best explanation is the one
suggested by the Chaldee Paraphrase, to wit, that the psalms which bear this
title belong to that period of David's history, when he was under the perpetual necessity of saying Destroy not, and are therefore suited to all
similar emergencies of other saints. It is not at all impossible, that this
was a favourite saying of David in real life, the rather as it is borrowed
from the prayer of Moses in Deut. ix. 26, of which it may be said to be an
abbreviated citation, not unlike the Latin designations, De Profundis,
Miserere, Venice Exsultemus, Non Nobis Domine, Te Deum &c. The explanation above given is corroborated by the obvious allusion in these three
psalms (lvii.—lix.) to the Sauline persecution. The very expression may be
traced in 1 Sam. xxvi. 9, where David utters, as a command to his followers, what he so often had occasion to utter as a prayer in his own behalf.
This psalm is described as a michtam, mystery, or secret, on account of the
extraordinary consolation and support which he experienced, enabling him
to triumph even in the midst of enemies and dangers. See above, on Ps.
xvi. 1. In the cave of Adullam (1 Sam. xxii. 1), or of Engedi (1 Sam.
xvi. 1-3), or more indefinitely in the cave, equivalent to saying in caves, as
a generic description of the mode of life which he then led (Heb. xi. 38),
not without some reference to the subterraneous cavern, as an emblem of
solitude and darkness. Hence the absence of any more specific allusion to
particular incidents which occurred in caves, such as that recorded in
1 Sam. xxiv., and the obvious reference to the whole period of the Sauline
persecution, as a time of wandering, danger, and distress. Hence, too, the
striking similiarity, in sentiment and form, between this psalm and the one
before it.
2 (1). Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me, for in thee has
my soul sought refuge, and in the shadow of thy wings will I seek refuge,
until (these) calamities be overpast. The repetition of the prayer for mercy
chews the intensity of his desire. Sought refuge from the persecutions mentioned in Ps. lvi. 2 (1). The soul is mentioned as the object of pursuit.
See above, on Ps. liv. 5 (4), lvi. 7 (6), and compare 1 Sam. xxiv. 12 (11).
The shadow of thy wings: the same beautiful figure for protection is pre-
VER. 2-6.]
PSALM LVII.
253
sented in Ps. xvii. 8, xxxvi. 8 (7). Calamities, occasioned by the crimes
of others. See above, on Ps. lii. 4, 9, (2, 7).
3 (2). I will cry unto God Most High, unto the Almighty, finishing for
me, i. e. perfecting what he has begun. Compare Phil. i. 6. This verse
assigns two reasons for his crying unto God. The first is the supremacy
and omnipotence of God himself, the second is the previous experience of
his faithfulness in fully performing whatever he has promised. See below,
on Ps. cxxxviii. 8.
4 (3). He will send from heaven and save me—(when or whom) the devourer reviles, Selah!—God will send his mercy and his truth. The first verb
may govern hand, as in Ps. cxliv. 7, or help, as in Ps. xx. 3 (2), or be used
absolutely, as in Ps. xviii. 17 (16). The devourer, literally the one gaping
after me, snorting with rage against me, or panting for my destruction. See
above, on Ps. lvi. 2, 3 (1, 2). Without supplying anything, this clause
may be taken as a short independent proposition—the devourer has reviled—
interposed between the two principal members of the sentence. See above,
on Ps. xxvii. 8, xlv. 6 (5). In the last clause, Mercy and Truth seem to
be personified, like Integrity and Uprightness in Ps. xxv. 21, Violence and
Strife in Ps. Iv. 10 (9). With this clause compare Ps. xliii. 3.
5 (4). My soul (is) in the midst of lions; I will lie down (among) burning ones, sons of man, (whose) teeth (are) spears and arrows, and their tongue
a sharp sword. By his soul he means himself, or rather his endangered
life. Lions, as often elsewhere, means ferocious enemies. See above, on
Ps. vii. 3 (2), xxii. 13, 14 (12, 13). The form of the verb which follows
is the one denoting fixed determination. "Though surrounded by lions I
will fearlessly lie down," &c. Among or upon them. Burning may possibly refer to lions and mean raging; but the indefinite application is more
natural. Sons of man is added to chew that what precedes is to be figuratively understood; but in the very next clause, the writer relapses into
language still more highly metaphorical. In likening their teeth to swords
he presents the double image of a wild beast and a warrior. The mention
of the tongue has reference, no doubt, to the slander and abuse, which
entered so largely into the Sauline persecutions. These had already been
referred to in the middle clause of ver. 4 (3), of which this may be regarded
as an amplification.
6 (5). Be high above the heavens, O God, above all the earth thy glory!
Some, in the last clause, read on all the earth, and then explain on the
heavens to mean nothing more than in heaven. The whole verse then is
the expression of a wish that God may be exalted both in heaven and earth.
But this is far less natural than the usual construction, which supposes a comparison,
and makes the verse exalt God above all his works. Compare Ps. viii. 2 (1).
7 (6). A net they prepared for my steps; he pressed down my soul; they
digged before me a pit; they fell into the midst of it. Selah. This verse
assigns the reason or occasion of the praise ascribed to God in that before
it. The image here presented is the same as in Ps. vii. 16 (15), ix. 16
(15). The sudden change of number is particularly common in the Psalms
when speaking of an ideal person, representing many real individuals. See
above, on Ps. lvi. 3 (2). The phrase pressed down is borrowed from the
Prayer-Book version, and is well suited to convey the idea of an animal
caught and held down by a trap or snare. That version is also more correct
than the English Bible in giving to the verb an active meaning; of the
neuter or passive there is no example elsewhere. Before me, in my path,
254
PSALM LVII.
[VER. 7-11.
where am I walking. The Selah at the close is almost equivalent to an
Amen, as expressing acquiescence in God's righteous retributions.
8 (7). Fixed (is) my heart, O God, fixed (is) my heart; I will sing and
play. The repetition adds solemnity and force to the declaration. Fixed,
i. e. firmly resolved and proof against all fear. See above, on Ps. li. 12 (10),
and below on Ps. cxii. 7. The two verbs in the last clause are properly
descriptive of the two kinds of music, vocal and instrumental; but in the
usage of the Psalms they always have reference to the praise of God.
9 (8.) Awake, my glory! awake, lute and harp! I will awaken morning.
The same idea is now expressed in the form of a poetical apostrophe. By
glory most interpreters understand the soul, as the glory of the whole man,
but some the tongue, as the glory of the body. See above, on Ps. vii. 6 (5),
xvi. 9, xxx. 13, and below, on Ps. cviii. 2 (1). It is possible, however, that
it here means that in which he gloried, his inspiration as a sacred poet, and
which he personifies, as the heathen poets invoked the muse. Lute and
harp is the translation in the Prayer Book. Any other combination, denoting two familiar instruments, such as harp and lyre, would be here appropriate. The verb in the last clause is a causative of that in the first, and
is related to it as the English verb awaken to awake. Strictly translated,
this clause contains a bold but beautiful poetical conception, that of
awakening the dawn instead of being awakened by it, in other words, preventing or anticipating it by early praises. In like manner, Ovid says the
crowing of the cock evocat auroram. We thus obtain the same sense, in a
far more striking form than is expressed by the inexact and prosaic version,
I will awake early. The intransitive sense given to the verb, and the adverbial sense given to the noun, are both without sufficient authority in
usage. From this verse some have inferred, that the psalm was expressly
designed to be an even-song; but he does not say, I will do thus tomorrow. The meaning rather is that he will do it daily. See above, on
Ps. xvii. 15. The summons to the harp and lyre, may be understood as implying, that
they have long slept without occasion for such praise as they are now to utter.
10 (9). I will thank thee among the nations, Lord; I will praise thee
among the peoples. The divine interposition to be celebrated is so great and
glorious as to be entitled to the praises of the whole world. See above,
on Ps. xviii. 50 (49.)
11 (10). For great unto the heavens (is) thy mercy, and unto the clouds
thy truth. By a natural and favourite hyperbole, God's goodness is described as reaching from earth to heaven. See above, on Ps. xxxvi. 6 (5),
and compare Jer. li. 9.
12 (11). Be thou high above the heavens, O God, above all the earth thy
glory! The strophe ends as it began in ver. 6 (5) above. In the last
clause the verb of the first may be repeated, be thy glory high; or the substantive verb alone may be supplied, let thy glory be above all the earth!
PSALM LVIII.
1. To the Chief Musician. Al-tashheth. By David. Michtam. See
above, on Ps. lvii. 1. The Psalmist complains of unjust, spiteful, hardened
enemies, ver. 2-6 (1-5), and prays that their power may be broken, ver.
7-12 (6-11). The contents of the psalm agree with its title in shewing
that it belongs to the period of Saul's persecutions, when David had to
VER. 1, 2.]
PSALM LVIII.
255
contend with unjust rulers, who were at the same time his personal enemies. But although suggested by his own experience, the psalm was designed
for permanent and public use, and is therefore inscribed to the Chief Musician.
2 (1). Are ye indeed dumb (when) ye (should) speak righteousness (and)
judge equitably, sons of man? The first words are exceedingly obscure.
One of them (Ml,xe), not expressed in English and the ancient versions,
means dumbness, as in Ps. lvi. 1, and seems to be here used as a strong
expression for entirely speechless. In what respect they were thus dumb,
is indicated by the verb which follows, but the connection can be made
clear in English only by a circumlocution. The interrogation, are ye indeed, expresses wonder, as at something scarcely credible, Can it be so?
is it possible? are you really silent, you whose very office is to speak for
God and against the sins of men? See Deut. i. 16, 17. That the speaking here meant is judicial speaking, appears from the more specific parallel
expression. The word translated equitably is a plural noun meaning equities
or rectitudes. See above, on Ps. xvii. 2. Strictly understood, it is not a
qualifying term, but the object of the verb judge, as in the other clause righteousness is governed directly by the verb speak. The address to them as
sons of man reminds them of their own dependence and responsibility.
3 (2). Nay, in heart, iniquities ye practise; in the land, the violence of
your hands ye weigh. The particle at the beginning is, as usual, emphatic,
meaning not only this but something more. See above, Ps. xviii. 49 (48),
xliv. 10 (9). Not contented with neglecting their official functions, they
were guilty of positive injustice. The Hebrew for iniquities is the plural of
a word. used in Ps. xxxvii. 1, xliii. 1, and denotes various acts of injustice. The
future forms (ye will do, ye will weigh) implies an obstinate persistency in
evil. To do or practise wickedness in heart may mean to plan or contrive
it, as in Micah. ii. 1, leaving the execution to be inferred as a matter of course.
Or the phrase may be translated with the heart, i. e. cordially, ex anima,
con amore, or to use an idiomatic English expression with a will. The
first words of the last clause, in the land, may seem, from their position, to
be in contrast with the phrase in heart; but the antithesis, if any, is between the heart and hands, and in the land suggests the aggravating circumstance, that all this was practised by persons in authority under the theocracy, among the chosen people. Violence, violent injustice. See above,
on Ps. lv. 10 (9). The last verb in this sentence means to level or make
even, and in that sense is repeatedly applied to paths. See Isa. xxvi. 7,
Prov. iv. 26, v. 6, 21. But as the derivative noun (sl,P,) means a
lance (Prov. xvi. 11, Isa. xl. 12), the verb may here denote the act of
weighing, levelling the balance, rendering it even, which some, without necessity, ascribe to it in several of the places above cited, where its constant
combination with a way or path seems to exclude the idea of weighing as
incongruous, and to require that of smoothing or levelling as peculiarly
appropriate. This last might be retained even here, and the metaphor be
understood to mean that they facilitated or promoted violence (q. d. levelled
or prepared its way); but the sense of weighing is equally appropriate,
and agrees well with the favourite idea of the scales of justice, which is found
not only in the classics but in Scripture. See Job xxxi. 6. The meaning
then is, that. these wicked rulers, instead of weighing out justice to their
subjects, weighed out, administered, dispensed, the most violent injustice,
and that, too, devised and practised by themselves.
256
PSALM LVIII.
[VER 3-5;
4 (3). Estranged are the wicked from the womb; they go astray from,
(their) birth, speaking lies. The first verb in Hebrew is not a passive but
a neuter form, denoting the condition of estrangement, alienation, from God
and from all goodness. The wicked thus described are the whole class,
of which his persecutors formed a part. The preterite tense is used in
the original (were estranged, went astray) on account of the retrospective
reference to the beginning of life. The verb translated go astray is one
frequently applied to moral aberrations. From their birth, literally from
the belly. See above, Ps. xxii. 11 (10). Speaking lies, or with closer
adherence to the form of the original, speakers of falsehood, i. e. habitual
liars. The other version seems to mean that they begin to lie as soon as
they are born, a hyperbolical expression, of which some interpreters relieve
the sentence by making this the subject of the proposition and parallel to.
wicked in the other clause. Speakers of falsehood go astray from (their)
birth. In this description of the wicked there is nothing inconsistent with
the doctrine of universal depravity, as recognised in Ps. xiv. 1, li. 7 (5) above, and in
Gen. viii. 21, Job xiv. 4, because the holiness of some men is a mere exception to the
general rule, produced by the distinguishing grace of God, which frees them from the
paramount influence of that corruption to which others still continue subject.
5, 6 (4, 5). There is poison to them like the poison of a serpent, as a deaf
adder stops its ear, which will not hearken to the voice of enchanters, of (one)
charming charms, (of one) most wise. The first words are equivalent to the
English construction, they have poison, The Hebrew noun originally signifies heat, and especially the heat of anger, in which sense it repeatedly occurs
above, Ps. vi. 2 (1), xxxvii. 8, xxxviii. 2 (1). The same sense is retained
here by the ancient versions (qumo<j, furor), and agrees well with the popular
idea of vindictive spite, as a natural instinct of this class of animals. But
most interpreters explain the word, here and in Deut xxxii. 24, as meaning
venom, animal poison, so called from its inflammatory effects upon the
person bitten. The Hebrew phrase translated like means strictly after (or
according to) the likeness of. Compare its use in Gen. i. 26. It may be
here employed, instead of the simple particle of comparison, for the sake of
emphasis, as we say like, but more emphatically just like. As to the species
of serpent mentioned in the second clause of ver. 5 (4), all that is necessary
to a correct interpretation of the verse is to understand it as denoting a
variety regarded as peculiarly malignant, and therefore resisting the incantations by which other species were subdued, especially in Egypt. See the
allusions to this practice in Eccles. x. 11, Jer. viii. 17. This clause admits
of a different construction, like the deaf adder he stops his ear, which some
interpreters prefer because an adder cannot stop its ears, and need not stop
them if naturally deaf, whereas it is by stopping his that the wicked man
becomes like a deaf adder. The word translated enchanters properly means
whisperers or mutterers, in allusion to familiar practices of the ancient
wizards. Charming charms, laying spells, or as the Hebrew words are
commonly supposed to signify originally, tying knots with a magical design.
The last word in ver. 6 (5), is a passive participle, analogous to our word
learned, and here meaning skilful. The English versions and the Vulgate
make it an adverb (sapienter, never so wisely); but the Septuagint and
Jerome give it its proper meaning as an adjective, in which case it is probably in apposition with the nouns preceding, and connected in like manner
with the voice of the first clause. The general idea of the verse, however
construed, is that the malice of his enemies is stubborn and inexorable.
VER. 6-8.]
PSALM LVIII.
257
7 (6). O God, crush their teeth in their mouth; the grinders of the young
lions shatter, O Jehovah! The complaint is now followed by a prayer, that
these ferocious enemies may be disarmed and disabled. This idea is expressed by the use of the same figure as in Ps. iii. S (7), that of wild beasts
rendered harmless by the breaking of their teeth. Compare Job xxix. 17,
Hence in the last clause they are expressly called lions. See above, Ps.
lvii. 5 (4). Young lions, not mere whelps, from which they are distinguished
in Ezek. xix. 2, 3, but full-grown lions, in the first maturity of their
strength, and therefore more to be dreaded than when older or younger.
See above, Ps. xvii. 12, xxxiv. 11 (10), xxxv. 17. The Hebrew verbs in
this verse are peculiarly expressive, and, though wholly unconnected with
each other, are both used elsewhere to express the ideas of violently breaking, breaking down, breaking out, breaking off, and breaking through. See
Exod. xv. 7, xix. 21, Lev. xiv. 45, Judges vi. 30, 1 Kings xviii. 30.
8 (7). Let them melt away as waters, let them go their way; let him bend
his arrows, as if they were cut off. The optative meaning of these features
seems to be determined by the imperatives in ver. 7 (6). There is nothing
ungrammatical, however, in retaining the strict future sense, and regarding
the verse as an expression of strong confidence as to the event. The first
verb elsewhere has the sense of being rejected with contempt, and is so
used in Ps. xv. 9; but as two of its radical letters coincide with those of a
verb meaning to be melted, most interpreters prefer this sense. The other
might, however, be retained, and the phrase explained to mean that they
should be east aside as water, and especially as filthy water, is rejected.
Go their way, literally go to their or to themselves. Some understand it to
mean for themselves, i. e. for their own benefit, their destruction being represented, by a sort of irony, as all that they have gained by their hostility.
Compare the use of the same phrase in Ps. lxiv. 6 (5), lxvi. 7 (6). In the
next clause, most interpreters assume a sudden change of number, such as
frequently occurs in speaking of an ideal person representing a plurality of
real individuals. See above, on Ps. 4, 7 (3, 6). He (i. e. the enemy)
shall bend his arrows, literally tread them, i. e. bend by treading on them.
This expression is applicable strictly to the bow, and it is so applied repeatedly above. See Ps. vii. 13 (12), xi. 2, xxxvii. 14. Having thus
acquired the secondary sense of fitting, making ready, it is transferred from
the bow to the arrows, not only here but in Ps. lxiv. 4 (3), below. If the last
verb be construed with the arrows as its subject, they would seem to be described as blunted or deprived of their points, and the meaning of the clause is,
that the weapons of the enemy take no effect. The whole clause, however, will
admit of a different construction, which refers the singular verb and pronoun
to God himself, and the plural verb to these rebellious sinners. Let him bend his arrows,
as if they were cut off, i. e. so that they may be cut off. Notwithstanding the obscurity of
this clause, the connection is preserved unbroken by the obvious meaning of the other.
9 (8). As a snail melts, let him go; (like) the untimely birth of a woman,
they have not beheld the sun. The idea of speedy and entire disappearance
is still more strongly expressed here. The meaning of the word translated
snail rests upon rabbinical tradition and a doubtful etymology. The point
of comparison may relate to some popular belief or to some apparent idiosyncrasy in this class of animals, perhaps to the idea of its losing a portion
of its body by locomotion. The. next noun primarily signifies what falls
from the tree, unripe fruit, and is then transferred to animal abortions.
The past tense in the last clause seems to mark it as a kind of reflection
258
PSALM LVIII.
[VER. 9-11.
introduced into the midst of the prayer. "So far from living too long, as
I feared, they seem scarcely to have lived at all."
10 (9). Before your pots can feel the thorn, whether raw or done, he will
blow him away. This is one of the obscurest and most difficult verses in
the book, and yet the general idea is sufficiently clear. The he in the last
clause relates to God, the him to his wicked enemy. The verb translated
blow away means properly to storm away, or carry away with (or like) a
tempest. The rapidity of this movement is expressed by a familiar comparison. Your pots, your vessels used in cooking. The address seems to
be to the sinners, afterwards referred to as a single person. Feel, perceive
the heat. Compare Job vi. 30. The thorn, used as fuel, kindles quickly
and immediately burns out, so that this comparison suggests the idea of a
very sudden change. The singular expression which follows literally means
as (well) living as heat; but as the adjective is elsewhere used to signify raw,
not cooked (1 Sam. ii. 15), the noun joined with it may be taken in the
opposite sense of cooked or done. This may be a proverbial expression,
borrowed from the dialect of common life, to convey the idea of a sudden
change, which waits for nothing, but carries men away in the midst of their
employments. This, though still an unusual form of speech, will seem less
unnatural if we suppose the process of cooking to be here used as a figure
for the plots and devices of the enemy, a metaphor by no means far-fetched
or unknown to other writers. The idea, then, is that while these devices,
so to speak, are cooking, the cooks are snatched away by a superior power,
without caring whether the operation is complete or not. "Before the
seething pot of your contrivances begins to feel the quickly kindled heat
which you apply to it, the tempest of divine wrath carries you away, whether your mess be cooked or raw."
11 (10). Rejoice shall the righteous, because he has seen vengeance; his
steps he shall bathe in the blood of the wicked. The vengeance in which he
shall rejoice is not his own, but God's, in the vindication of whose righteousness and honour all holy beings must rejoice for ever, although not in
the suffering of those who perish. The same idea is expressed more
strongly in the last clause by a martial figure. To bathe his feet (or rather
his steps) in the blood of others is to walk where their blood is flowing, to
tread the battle-field where they have fallen, to gain a sanguinary triumph
over them, or rather it is to partake in the triumph of another. Thus one
of the old commentators says that David washed his feet in Saul's blood,
Elijah in Ahab's, Hezekiah in Sennacherib's, without any agency or share
in their destruction, and without any selfish or malignant exultation in
their ruin. Let it also be observed that in this, as in many like cases, the act is
ascribed to an ideal person, and is therefore no example for our imitation.
12 (11). And man shall say, Yes, there is fruit to the righteous; yes,
there is a God judging in the earth. This shall be said, not by a man, nor
by any particular man, but by men in general, by man as opposed to God.
The particle translated yes really means only, and denotes that this and
nothing else is true. See above, on Ps. xxxix. 12 (11). There is fruit to
the righteous, or, in our idiom, he has fruit, i. e. he reaps what he has sown.
Compare Isa. iii. 10, 11. The very power that destroys his enemies is his
protector. The idea of existence is expressed in the last clause, contrary
to usage, and is therefore emphatic. THERE is, notwithstanding all denials,
doubts, and false appearances, THERE is a God judging in the earth. Another unusual circumstance in this clause is, that not only the divine name,
VER. 1-5.]
PSALM LIX.
259
but the participle agreeing with it, is in the plural number. The same
thing occurs in Josh. xxiv. 19, 1 Sam. xvii. 26. In this case it may possibly be intended to suggest the idea, that although these earthly representatives of God are so unfaithful, there are, nevertheless, gods judging in
the earth, i. e. one God, who possesses in himself the source of all the justice exercised by other beings. See above, on Ps. xi. 7.
PSALM LIX.
THIS psalm consists of two parallel parts, in both which the succession
of ideas is substantially the same. A sufferer complains of treacherous
and cruel enemies, ver. 2-5 (1-4), prays to be delivered from them, ver.
6 (5), and confidently anticipates their ruin, ver. 7-12 (6-11). In the.
second part we have again, in the same order, the complaint, ver. 13 (12),
the prayer, ver. 14 (13), and the anticipation, ver. 15-18 (14-17).
1. To the Chief Musician. Al-tashheti. By David. Michtam. When
Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him. This remarkable incident in David's life, which was the beginning of his long and painful wanderings, is recorded, almost in the same words, 1 Sam. xix. 11. The title
or inscription is the same as in the two preceding psalms.
2 (1). Free me from my enemies, my God, from those rising up (against)
me thou wilt raise me, i. e. place me beyond their reach. Here, as often
elsewhere, the tone of supplication is insensibly exchanged for that of confident anticipation. But the change is momentary, and the form of supplication is immediately resumed. My insurgents or assailants; see above,
on Ps. xvii. 7. The idea and expression at the close are the same as in
Ps. xx. 2 (1). Compare Ps. xviii. 49 (48).
3 (2). Free me from workers of iniquity, and from men of blood save me.
The same words and phrases have occurred repeatedly before. See above,
Ps. v. 6 (5), vi. 9 (8), xiv. 4, xxvi. 9, xxviii. 3. This verse and the one
before it constitute the general introductory petition, the ground and reason
of which are afterwards assigned.
4 (8). (This I ask) because (such enemies as I have just described) have
laid wait for my soul (or life); there assemble against me strong ones, not
(for) my transgression, and not (for) my sin, Jehovah! Or, (it is) not my
fault nor my sin, Jehovah.
5 (4). Without iniquity (on my part, to excuse or even to provoke them)
they run and set themselves (against me). Both these are military terms,
and seem to denote strictly the scaling of a wall. See above, on Ps. xviii.
30 (29). Awake (arouse thyself from this apparent inactivity) to meet me
(to respond to my petition), and see (my danger, and the malice of my
enemies).
6 (5). And thou, Jehovah, God, (Lord of) Hosts, God of Israel, awake to,
visit all the nations; spare not all traitors of iniquity. Selah. The accumulation of divine names is not unmeaning, but suggestive of reasons why
the prayer should be answered, to wit, because He to whom it was addressed
was not only the Eternal, Self-existent God, the Sovereign of the Universe,
but the God of Israel, and therefore bound by covenant to save his people.
All the nations, i. e. such as are the enemies of God and of his people; and if
whole nations are thus dealt with, how much more may Jehovah be expected
to destroy his individual enemies? Traitors of iniquity, wicked traitors.
The depth of the feeling here expressed is further indicated by the Selah.
260
PSALM LIX.
[VER. 6-10.
7 (6). Let them return at evening, let them howl like the dog, and go around
the city. The verbs may also be rendered as simple futures, expressive of
a confident anticipation: they shall return, &c. In either case, the verse
contains a metaphorical description of the disappointment of the enemy,
who are here compared to the gregarious untamed dogs by which the oriental cities are infested. As these dogs prowl about the streets in search of
food, and howl for want of it, so let (or so shall) my wicked enemies.
Others, with equal probability, explain this verse as a description of their
present fierceness and avidity.
8 (7). Lo, they pour out with their mouths; swords (are) in their lips; for
who (is) hearing? He here reverts to his description and complaint of his
enemies. The first verb is expressive of a constant flow or gush. See
above, on Ps. xix. 3 (2). What it is that they thus pour out, although not
expressed, may be readily gathered from the context, namely, slanders and
reproaches. The swords in their lips are significant of sharp and cutting
speeches. See above, on Ps. lv. 22 (21), and compare Ps. lii. 4 (3). The
English version, by supplying "say they," makes the last clause the language of these wicked foes, who are then to be understood as denying God's
omniscience or his justice. See above, on Ps. x. 11, 13, and compare
Ps. xiv. 1, xlii. 11 (10). But a still more striking sense may be obtained
by making this clause the complaint of the Psalmist himself, as if he had
said: no wonder that they thus pour out their bitter words; for who is
there to observe and punish them? The question implies that God himself had ceased to notice their offences, and the participial form, that this
neglect had now become habitual.
9 (8). And thou, Jehovah, wilt laugh at them; thou wilt mock at all
nations. The resistance of whole nations, or of all collectively, is but an
object of contempt to thee; how much more that of even the most potent
individuals. See above, on Ps. ii. 4, xxxvii. 13. The connection between
this verse and the one before it depends upon the meaning of the question
with which ver. 8 (7) closes. If that be regarded as the language of the
enemy, the thought to be supplied is, "But although they thus imagine
that thou dost not hear, thou wilt soon undeceive them by deriding them."
On the other supposition it is this: "Although I am continually tempted
to say, who doth hear? I am, nevertheless, persuaded that thou dost hear
and despise their impotent malignity."
10 (9). His strength unto thee will I keep, for God is my high place.
The first clause is so obscure that some interpreters have thought it necessary to change the text (yz.ifu for Oz.fu), and read my strength, i. e. thou who
art my strength, for thee will I watch or wait. Some who retain the common text suppose a sudden change of person, (as for) his strength, i. e.
God's, I will watch .for thee, O God! But this is much less natural than
the common version (because of) his strength, i. e. the enemy's, will I wait
upon thee. According to the first translation above given, the meaning of
the clause is, I will reserve the strength and violence of the enemy, to be
dealt with and disposed of by Jehovah. My high place, beyond the reach
of enemies and dangers. See above, on Ps. ix. 10 (9), xviii. 3 (2), xlvi. 8, 12 (7, 11).
11 (10). My God (with) his mercy will meet me; God will make me to gaze
upon my enemies. This translation of the first clause follows the reading
in the text of the Hebrew Bible. The common version exhibits the marginal or masoretic emendation, the God of my mercy, i. e. my merciful
God, or the God who shews me mercy, shall prevent me, in the primrary
VER. 11-13.]
PSALM LIX.
261
and proper sense of coming before me. The idea here is that of coming to
meet one in a friendly manner. See above, on Ps. xxi. 4 (3), and compare
the unfavourable meaning of the same verb in Ps. 13, xviii. 6 (5),
19 (18). To gaze, i. e. with joy and triumph. See above, on Ps. liv.
9 (7). This is equivalent to saying, he will give me the victory. The
word for enemies is the same as in Ps. v. 9 (8).
12 (11). Slay them not, lest my people forget; make them wander by thy
power and bring them down, our shield, O Lord! The meaning of the first
clause, as appears from the context, is, destroy them not utterly, or once for
all. My people, i. e. Israel, the chosen race. Make them wander, like
Cain and like Israel in the wilderness, to both which cases the same verb
is applied, Gen. iv. 12, Num. xxxii. 13. These are tacitly referred to, as
familiar examples of this kind of punishment, inflicted both on individuals and
nations. Bring them down, cause them to descend, from their present high
position, humble them, and make their humiliation an example and a warning to all others. This was signally fulfilled in the case of Saul and his
household, as well as in that of the nations which resisted the divine will
and oppressed the chosen people, to both which cases the expressions of
this psalm are designedly appropriate. Our shield, our protector; not only
mine but ours; not only David's but all Israel's. The figure of a shield is
a favourite one with David. See above, on Ps. iii. 4 (3), xviii. 3 (2), xxviii. 7. It is
not only striking and expressive, but historically associated with the origin of the
nation in the calling of Abraham and the patriarchal promises. See Gen. xv. 1.
13 (12.) The sin of their mouth—the word of their lips—and they shall
be taken in their pride—and from cursing and falsehood they will tell. This
is a close translation of this very obscure verse, that is to say, obscure in
its particular expressions, though its general sense is obvious enough.
The construction given in the English versions, (for) the sin of their mouth
(and) the word of their lips they shall be taken, either overlooks the copulative particle before the verb or makes it unmeaning, they shall even be
taken. The latest interpreters prefer to render it, the sin of their mouth
(is) the word of their lips, i. e. the word of their lips is the sin of their
mouth; whatever they speak is spoken sinfully; they cannot speak without
committing sin. They shall be taken, caught, surprised, as they have
sought to surprise others. See above, Ps. ix. 16 (15), xxxv. 8. It may
also be read as an expression of desire, may they be taken! In their pride,
not merely on account of it, although this is included, but in the midst of
it, in the act of indulging it. From cursing represents their capture as
arising (or proceeding) from their cursing, and may therefore be translated
for, as in the English Bible. Cursing, or rather swearing in attestation of
a falsehood. See above, on Ps. x. 7. The phrase to tell a falsehood is common to both idioms. Most interpreters supply a relative, (which) they tell,
or will tell. Otherwise, from must be understood as meaning of, concerning.
14 (13.) Consume in wrath, consume (them), and let them be no more,
and let them know that God (is) ruling in Jacob, unto the ends of the earth. The
first verb strictly means to cause to cease, to finish, to destroy so that
nothing is left. Let them be no more, let them cease to be. By itself, the
Hebrew phrase would seem to mean, and they are not, but the tense, which
is not expressed in the original, must be determined by the prayer preceding. The last clause might at first sight seem to mean, let my enemies know
that God rules not only in Israel, but throughout the earth. But this is
forbidden by the prayer that they may cease to be, and would require a
262
PSALM LIX.
[VER. 14-17.
connecting particle of some sort after Jacob. The true construction, indicated by the accents, is, and let them (i. e. men in general) know to the ends of
the earth, that God (is) ruling (i. e. habitually rules) in Jacob. This description of the whole world as witnessing and interested in God's dealings
with his chosen people, is in strict accordance with the very end for which
he chose them, and is particularly characteristic of David. See above, on
Ps. xviii. 50 (49), lvii. 6, 10, 12 (5, 9, 11), and compare his language to
Goliath, 1 Sam. xvii. 46: "This day will Jehovah deliver thee into my hand, and
I will smite thee . . . that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel."
15 (14). Then let them return at evening, howl like the dog, and go
around the city. The first word in Hebrew is a simple copulative, meaning
and; but the connection seems to be, since God is my protector and these
enemies are doomed to destruction, let them threaten as they will, I shall
not fear them. It is equally grammatical, though not so natural, to understand the verse as a prediction or confident anticipation of the miserable
state to which these enemies should be reduced, like a herd of oriental dogs
without a master or a home, prowling about in search of food, and howling
with hunger, but remaining still unsatisfied. See above, on ver. 7 (6).
16 (15). They shall wander (in quest of something) to eat, (and) if they
are not satisfied, remain all night. This sentence is obscure, whether it be
understood as a defiance or a threatening, though the latter construction is
recommended by the emphatic pronoun at the beginning. They themselves,
the very persons who now threaten me, shall roam about in search of food,
&c. The most probable meaning of the last clause is: and not being
satisfied, not finding what they seek, they must continue seeking it by night
as well as by day. The conversive particle before the last word seems
be here equivalent to then or still after a conditional clause—"if they are
not satisfied, then they shall remain all night"—or "though they be not
satisfied, yet must they remain all night."
17 (16). And I will sing thy strength, and celebrate in the morning thy
mercy; for thou hast been a high place to me, a refuge in my distress. The
pronoun at the beginning is emphatic, I, on my part, as contrasted with
these wretches. Thy strength or power, thus exerted in my behalf. In the
morning, or at break of day, which is the primary meaning of the term.
The phrase is in obvious antithesis to at evening in ver. 15 (14). There
may also be allusion to the frequent use of night and morning, as emblems
of suffering and relief. Compare the words of David in 2 Sam. xxiii. 4.
A height, high place, or place of safety, as in ver. 10 (9) above. In my
distress, or retaining the original construction, in distress to me. The form
of expression is the same as in Ps. xviii. 7 (6).
18 (17). My strength, unto thee will I sing; for God is my high place, the
God of my mercy. The most natural construction of the first phrase is that
which makes it a direct address to God, as the author of his strength. But
as the structure of the clause is precisely similar to that at the beginning
of ver. 10 (9), some adopt a similar construction, my strength will I sing unto
thee. I will praise my strength to thee, because I shall thereby praise thyself. This is equivalent to saying, I will celebrate thee as my strength.
High place, place of safety, refuge, or asylum, as in ver. 10, 17 (9, 16).
God of my mercy, my merciful God, or the God who shews me mercy. See
above, on ver. 11 (10).
VER. 1, 2.]
PSALM LX.
263
PSALM LX.
1. To the Chief Musician. On the Lily of Testimony. A Mystery. By
David. To be Learnt. The lily is probably, in this case, as in Ps. xlv. 1,
an emblem of beauty or loveliness. The testimony is a name given to the
Law, as God's testimony against sin., See above, on Ps. xix. 8 (7), and
compare 2 Kings xi. 12, where the term is applied absolutely to the Law,
considered as a book or writing. This enigmatical inscription, therefore,
may be understood as representing the theme or subject of the psalm to be
the beauty of the law, or something lovely in it, with reference most probably to the gracious promise cited from it. At the same time, there seems
to be an allusion to the precept in Deut. xxxi. 19, "Now therefore write
ye this song for you, and TEACH it the children of Israel; put it in their
mouths, that this song may be a WITNESS for me against the children of
Israel." To this verse there seems to be a double allusion in the one
before us; first in the word testimony, which is a cognate form to that
translated witness, and then in the concluding words, to teach, where the
verb is the same with that in Deuteronomy. The title before us, therefore,
seems to say, this song is like the song of Moses, which was to be taught
to the people, as a witness or testimony against them, in case of unbelief
or disobedience. To teach then means to be taught or to be learned by
heart, committed to memory. Compare 2 Sam. i. 18, where the English
version incorrectly supplies (use of) the bow, instead of (song of) the bow,
meaning the elegy on Saul and Jonathan which immediately follows, so
called, according to an ancient custom, from the mention of Jonathan's
favourite weapon in ver. 22. See above, on Ps. ix. 1. From this enigmatical allusion, and the disguised form under which the truth is here
revealed, the psalm is justly represented as a Michtam, mystery, or secret.
See above, on the titles of the four preceding psalms. The body of the
psalm, apart from the additional title or historical inscription in ver. 2, may
be divided into three equal stanzas or strophes, each consisting of four
verses. In the first, the Psalmist takes occasion from God's seeming
desertion' of his people, to recall his former interventions in their favour,
ver. 3-6 (1-4). In the second, he pleads an express promise, as a ground
of present hope, ver. 7-10 (5-8). In the third, he expresses his confidence
of safety and success, in the proposed expedition against Edom, ver. 11-14
(9-12). Throughout the psalm the ideal speaker is Israel, considered as
the chosen people.
2. When, he conquered Aram, Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and Joab
returned and smote Edom, in the Valley of Salt, twelve thousand men. The
common version of the first verb (strove with) seems too weak, as a victory
is clearly presupposed, and the idea of contention is conveyed by a cognate
form of the same verb. The name Aram corresponds to Syria in its
widest and vaguest sense, and is joined with other names to designate
particular parts of that large country. It even includes Mesopotamia, which is
a term of physical rather than political geography, and denotes the space
between the Tigris and Euphrates, corresponding to Aram-Naharaim, or
Syria of the Two Rivers, in the verse before us. The king of this country
was tributary to the king of Aram Zobah, as appears from the account of
David's second Aramean war (2 Sam. x. 16, 19). It was after the return
of the victorious army from this war, that Joab marched against Edom and
achieved the victory here ascribed to him, as the leader of the army, but in
264
PSALM LX.
[VER. 1- 6.
1 Chron. xviii. 12, to his brother Abishai, who probably commanded under
him, as he did in a subsequent campaign (2 Sam. x. 10), and in 2 Sam.
viii. 13, to David himself as the sovereign whom they both represented.
The Valley of Salt has been identified by modern travellers with a valley
south of the Dead Sea, on the ancient confines of Israel and Edom. See
Robinson's Palestine, vol. ii. p. 483. The number killed on this occasion
is stated in 2 Sam. viii. 13, and 1 Chron. xviii. 12, at eighteen thousand.
But this diversity might easily arise from different modes of computation,
and seems at least to shew that the writer of the verse before us did not
blindly copy the historical books, while the smaller number which he gives
evinces his exemption from all disposition to embellish or exaggerate.
3 (1). O God, thou hast cast us off; thou hast broken us; thou hast been
angry; thou wilt restore to us (thy favour or our previous prosperity).
Clear as the marks of thy displeasure have been, we still confidently look
for thy returning favour. This may refer to disasters experienced in the
former part of the campaign. Cast us off, with abhorrence and contempt,
as in Ps. xviii. 2, xliv. 10, 24 (9, 23), Broken us, or made a breach in us,
which appears to be a military figure, and a favourite with David in real
life. See 2 Sam. v. 20, vi. 8, and compare Judges xxi. 15, Job xvi. 14,
xxx. 14. The last verb means to restore, as in Ps. xix. 8 (7), xxiii. 3, but
in application to a different object. Compare Isa. lviii. 12.
4 (2). Thou hast made the earth quake, thou hast riven it; heal its
breaches, far it moves. The idea of social disaster and calamity is here
expressed by the figure of an earthquake and its natural effects, to which
God is besought to put an end by the removal of the cause.
5 (3). Thou hast made thy people see (what is) hard; thou hast made us
drink wine of staggering (or reeling). The meaning of the first clause is,
that God had made them experience hardship. See a similar expression in
Ps. lxxi. 20. Wine of staggering, wine that causes men to reel or stagger,
here used as a figure for confusion, weakness, and distress. The same image reappears
in Ps. lxxv. 9 (8), Isa. li. 17, 22, Jer. xxv. 15, xlix. 12. See above, on Ps. xi. 6.
6 (4). Thou hast given to those fearing thee a banner to be lifted because
of (thy) truth. Selah. In the sight of thy discomfited and downcast
people, thou hast set up a signal, as a rallying point, and an assurance of
the truth of thy engagements. The word (sne) translated banner means
anything elevated as a signal, being derived from the followin verb, which,
in the form here used, means properly to raise itself, in Zech. ix. 16.
The word for truth is not the one commonly so rendered, but has the same
meaning in Prov. xxii. 21, and in the Aramaic dialects. See Dan. ii. 47,
iv. 34. Because of, literally from before or from the face of, an expression
indicating, as the cause of the effect described, the truth or veracity of God
himself. The translation of the last clause in the ancient versions and some
modern ones, to flee from before the bow, gives an unauthorised meaning
both to the verb and noun.
7 (5). In order that thy beloved ones may be delivered, save (with) thy
right hand and hear (or answer) us. This is a prayer naturally prompted
by the previous experience of God's favour, as recorded in the foregoing
verse. Thy beloved, an epithet applied to Benjamin in Deut. xxxiii. 12,
and forming a part of Solomon's additional name Jedidiah, 2 Sam. xii. 25.
See also Ps. xlv. 1. The common version of the last words (hear me) rests
upon the marginal reading or Keri.
8 (6). God hath spoken in his holiness; I will triumph; I will divide.
VER. 7, 8.]
PSALM LX.
265
Shechem, and the Valley of Succoth I will measure. As a further ground
for his petition, the Psalmist, speaking in the name of Israel, appeals to
the promise of Jehovah, that his people should possess the entire land of
Canaan. The reference is not to any insulated promise, but to that pervading the whole Law. There God had spoken, uttered his promise, in his
holiness, i. e. as a holy God, and as such incapable of failing to perform it.
See the similar expressions in Ps. lxxxix. 36 (35), Amos iv. 2. Some
understand what follows as the words which God had spoken; but as ver.
11 (9) is confessedly the language of the people or their representative, and
as no intermediate point of transition can be well assumed, it seems better
to explain these also as the words of David or of Israel. "God hath
spoken in his holiness (and therefore) I will triumph." Because he has
promised me victorious possession of the land, I exult in confident anticipation of it. This idea of triumphant occupation is expressed in terms
appropriate to the times of the original conquest, when the land was measured and distributed among the tribes. See Josh. xiii. 7, xviii. 5. The
two great divisions of the country, east and west of Jordan, are denoted by
Shechem and Succoth, the places where Jacob pitched his tent on his return
from exile, as if to claim the Land of Promise as his heritage. See Gen. xxxiii. 17, 19.
9 (7 ). To me (belongs) Gilead and to me Manasseh, and Ephraim the
strength of my head, Judah my lawgiver. The idea still is that the whole
of Canaan rightfully belongs to Israel. The form of expression is analogous
to that in the preceding verse, but with a beautiful variation. As the two
great divisions of the country, east and west of Jordan, are there represented by detached points, Shechem and Succoth, so here by the names of
extensive districts, Judah and Ephraim, the two largest territories on the
west, Bashan and Gilead on the east, the latter called by its own name, the
former by that of the tribe which occupied the greater part of it. See Deut
iii. 12, 13. The last clause does due honour to the military strength of
Ephraim (Gen. xlviii. 19, Deut. xxxiii. 17), but asserts the civil supremacy
of Judah (Gen. xlix. 10). The phrase translated strength of my head might
seem to mean my chief strength; but that would require the terms to be
inverted, head of my strength. Compare Gen. xlix. 3. It rather means
the protection of my head, as strength of my life in Ps. xxvii. 1 means that
which protects my life, the head being mentioned as the vital part peculiarly
exposed. Compare Ps. lxviii. 22 (21), cx. 6. Some suppose the figure to
be that of a helmet, which is too specific. In the last clause there is
obvious allusion to the prophecy in Gen. xlix. 10. Lawgiver has its proper
sense of ruler, sovereign. That of rod or sceptre, which some give it, rests
upon a doubtful explanation of Num. xxi. 18.
10 (8). Moab (is) my wash pot; at Edom will I throw my shoe; at me,
Philistia, shout aloud! The three hostile powers, with which Israel was
most frequently at war, are here put together, as the objects of a contemptuous address. Moab is likened to the humblest household utensil, the
vessel in which slaves were wont to wash their master's feet. Edom is
likened to the slave himself, to whom or at whom the master throws his
shoe when about to bathe his feet. Compare Mat. iii. 11, Acts xiii. 25.
This is much better suited to the context than the allusion, which some
assume, to the practice mentioned in Ruth iv. 7, where the removal of the
shoe is a symbol of renunciation, and could not be here used to express the
opposite idea of seizure or triumphant occupation. Shout aloud, or make a
noise, is by some explained as an expression of triumph, and the whole
266
PSALM LX.
[VER. 9-12
clause treated as ironical. Others understand it of the acclamation or shout
of welcome and applause by which subjects recognise and hail their sovereign. See above, on Ps. ii. 11, where the exhortation to rejoice with
trembling is, by the same interpreters, explained in the same manner. In
either case, the clause implies superiority in him who speaks, and willing
or compulsory subjection on the part of those whom he addresses.
11 (9). Who will bring me (to) the fenced city? Who has led me up to
Edom? In reliance on God's promise, and in the possession of the hope
and courage just expressed, his people are ready to go forward, and only
waiting, as it were, for some one to conduct them into the enemy's country,
nay, into his very citadel. The fenced city, literally, city of defence, or fortification, a phrase already used in Ps. xxxi. 22 (21), is Petra, the famous
capital of Idumea, hewn in the rock, and almost perfectly impregnable.
See Robinson's Palestine, vol. ii. pp. 573-580. The past tense in the last
clause represents the question as already answered. Up to, even to, as far
as, implying not mere motion or direction, but actual arrival.
12 (10). (Is it) not thou, O God, (who) hast cast us off and will not go
forth with our hosts? A simpler construction of the first clause would be,
hast thou not cast us off? But it seems better to explain the verse as an
indirect answer to the question in the one preceding. Who has brought
us into Edom, if not he who had rejected us? The terms are borrowed
from Ps. xliv. 10 (9), which seems to have been written in the midst of
the distress here spoken of as past. "Wilt not thou, of whom we lately
were compelled to say, thou hast forsaken us and wilt not go forth with our
hosts?" Compare 2 Sam. v. 24.
13 (11). Give us help from trouble (or from the enemy); and (the rather
because) vain (is) the salvation of man, i. e. the deliverance which man
affords. The causal particle, for, because, which seems necessary to connect
the clauses, is implied but not expressed in Hebrew. The second noun (rc)
may either mean distress, as in Ps. iv. 2 (1), xviii. 7 (6), or one who gives
distress, a persecuting or oppressing enemy, as in Ps. iii. 2 (1), xiii. 5 (4),
xxvii. 2, 12, xliv. 6, 8, 11 (5, 7, 10). Either sense would be appropriate, but the
latter is strongly recommended by its occurrence in the next verse.
14 (12). In God we will make (i. e. gain or gather) strength, and he will
tread down (or trample on) our adversaries (persecutors or oppressors).
The prayer is followed by the confident anticipation of the answer. In
God, i. e. in union with him, in possession of him. See above, on Ps.
xviii. 30 (29). The common version of the next phrase (shall do valiantly)
is vague and dubious, being .inadmissible in several of the cases where the
phrase occurs, whereas they all admit of the translation make or gather
strength, in reference to the acquisition or recovery of force by those who
had before been in a state of weakness. See below, on Ps. cviii. 14 (13),
cxviii. 15, 16, and compare Ezek. xxviii. 4, Ruth iv. 11, Deut. viii. 17, 18,
Num. xxiv. 18, to the last of which places there is obvious allusion here,
as relating to the very same enemies. Treading or trampling, as an emblem of violent subjection, occurs above in a contemporaneous passage, Ps.
xliv. 6 (5). The last eight verses reappear as a part of Ps. cviii., in the
exposition of which the points of difference and the general relation of the
passages will be considered.
VER. 1-5.]
PSALM LXI.
267
PSALM LXI.
1. To the Chief Musician—on a stringed instrument (or with an instrumental accompaniment)—of David. The peculiar form of the original
construction (dvedAl; tnaygin;) cannot be reproduced in English, but seems to
connect the name of David both with the Hebrew word preceding, as the
owner or conductor of the music, and with the psalm itself as the author.
That is to say, the words are so combined as to convey both these ideas—
a stringed instrument of David—and a psalm of David. The musical term
(neginath) is the same as in the titles of Ps. iv., vi., liv., lv., but in the
singular number and the construct form. The psalm itself consists of a prayer
with an expression of strong confidence, ver. 2-5 (1-4), and an appeal
to the divine promise, as the ground and object of that confidence, ver. 6-9 (5-8).
2 (1). Hear, O God, my cry; attend unto my prayer! The psalm
opens with an introductory petition to be heard. See above, on Ps.
v. 2, 3 (1, 2), xvii. 1, lv. 2 (1), and compare Ps. xxxix. 13 (12). The
word translated cry, which sometimes means a joyful shout or thankful
song—Ps. xxx. 6 (5), xlii. 5 (4), xlvii. 2 (1)—is here determined by the
parallelism and the context to denote a cry for help or mercy.
3 (2). From the end of the earth unto thee will I call, in the covering of
my heart (when it is covered, i. e. overwhelmed, or covered with darkness).
To a rock (that) is high from me (i. e. higher than I, or too high for me),
thou wilt lead me. To the saints of the Old Testament exclusion or involuntary distance from the sanctuary seemed equivalent to exile in the
remotest countries, sometimes called the end of the earth (Deut. xxviii. 64),
sometimes the end of heaven (Deut. iv. 32), although this last phrase may
be understood to mean the sensible horizon or boundary of vision (Isa.
xiii. 5). A rock, often mentioned as a place of refuge. See above, on Ps.
xviii. 3 (2), xl. 3 (2). Too high for me to reach without assistance. In
the last clause an earnest prayer is latent under the form of a confident
.anticipation. The feelings here expressed, and the terms used to express
them, are peculiarly appropriate to David's situation during Absalom's rebellion. See above, on Ps. iii. 1, xlii. 1.
4 (3). For thou hast been a refuge to me, a tower of strength (or strong
tower), from before (from the face or presence of) the enemy. He appeals
to former mercies as a ground for his present expectation. The verb of
existence is here emphatic, and cannot, without a violation of usage, be
translated as a present, which is almost invariably suppressed in Hebrew.
The enemy is a collective term, or one denoting an ideal person, including
many real individuals.
5 (4). I will sojourn (or abide) in thy tent (or tabernacle) ages (or eternities, i. e. for ever); I will trust (take refuge or find shelter) in the shadow
of thy wings. The first verb is in the paragogic form, expressing strong
desire or fixed determination. See above, on Ps. ii. 3. To dwell in God's
tent or house is to be a member of his family, to enjoy his bounty and protection, and to live in intimate communion with him. See above, on Ps.
xv. 1, xxiii. 6, xxvii. 4, 5. David here tacitly appeals to the promise
recorded in 2 Sam. vii. See above, on Ps. xxi. 5 (4). The beautiful
figure for protection in the last clause is the same as in Ps. xvii. 8,
xxxvi. 8 (7).
6 (5). For thou, O God, hast heard (or hearkened to) my vows (and the
268
PSALM LXII.
[VER. 1.
prayers which they accompanied); thou hast given me the heritage of those
fearing (or the fearers of) thy name, i. e. the reverential worshippers of thy
revealed perfections. See above, on Ps. liv. 3 (1). The heritage here
mentioned is participation in the honours and privileges of the chosen
people, with particular though tacit reference to the vicarious royalty conferred
on David, and ensured to his posterity in answer to his prayers. See
above, on Ps. xxi. 3-5 (2-4), and compare 2 Sam. vii. 16.
7 (6). Days to the days of the king thou wilt add; his years (shall be, or,
thou wilt multiply) like generation and generation. The preposition in the
first clause strictly means upon, and suggests the idea not of mere addition
but accumulation, which would also be conveyed in English by the literal
translation, days upon days. His use of the third person shews that he
does not mean himself alone, but the king of Israel as an ideal or collective
person, comprehending his posterity. The life of this ideal person would
of course not be restricted to a single generation, but continued through
many, which is the meaning of the idiomatic expression in the last clause.
8 (7). He shall sit (enthroned) to eternity before God; mercy and truth
do thou provide; let them preserve him (or they shall preserve him). The
first verb suggests the two ideas of continuance or permanence and regal.
exaltation. See above, on Ps. lv. 20 (19), and compare 2 Sam. vii. 29.
Before God, in his presence and under his protection. See above, on Ps.
lvi. 14 (13). Provide, prepare, afford, or have in readiness. Mercy and
Truth are personified, as in Ps. xl. 12 (11), lvii. 4 (3). Compare Ps. xliii. 3.
They seem to be here represented as God's messengers or agents in preserving his Anointed.
9 (8). So will I celebrate thy name for ever, that I may pay my vows day
(by) day. The so at the beginning may mean, on this condition, when this
prayer is granted; or more probably, in this assurance, in the confident
expectation of this issue. Celebrate musically, both with instrument and
voice. See above, on Ps. lvii. 8 (7), and compare Ps. lix. 18 (17). That
I may pay, literally to (or for) my paying, or, as some explain it, by my
paying, which, however, is a rare and dubious use of the infinitive. Day
(by) day or day (and) day, i. e. one day with or after another, implying not
only frequency but regularity. The Vulgate version of this idiomatic phrase
is de die in diem.
PSALM LXII.
1. To the Chief Musician over Jeduthun. A psalm by David. Jeduthun
seems here to mean the family or choir so called from the Chief Musician
of that name. See above, on Ps. xxxix. 1. The psalm consists of three
equal stanzas or strophes, each beginning with the particle (j`xa) only, and
the first and second ending with selah. In all these parts, the theme or burden is
the same, to wit, a contrast between God and man, as objects of confidence.
2 (1). Only to God (is) my soul silent; from him (is) my salvation. The
frequent repetition of the first word (j`xa) is characteristic of the psalm
before us. In all these cases it is to be taken in its strict exclusive sense
of only. See above, on Ps. lviii. 12 (11). Only in looking towards God
as my Saviour, is my soul silent, literally silence. See above, on Ps. xxii.
3 (2), xxxix. 3 (2). This trust, and this alone, can set his mind at rest, and
free him from the natural disquietude of man when alienated from his God.
VER. 2-9.]
PSALM LXII.
269
3 (2). Only He (is) my rock and my salvation, my height (high place,
refuge, or asylum); I shall not be shaken (moved from my firm position)
much (or greatly). The adverbial use of much is the same in Hebrew and
in English. This qualified expression seems to be intended to suggest, that
he does not hope to escape all disaster and calamity, but only such as would
be ruinous. See above, on Ps. xxxvii. 24. As to the figures in the first
clause, see above, on Ps. ix. 10 (9), 3 (2). He only, God and no
one else, can be such a protector.
4 (3). Until when (how long) will ye break loose upon (or against) a man,
will ye murder (i. e. seek to murder him) all of you (combined against a
single person, who is consequently) like a wall inclined (or bent by violence),
a fence (or hedge) crushed (broken down?) That the last clause relates to
himself and not his enemies, is clear from the continuation of the same
description in the next verse.
5 (4). Only from his elevation they consult to thrust (him, and as a means
to this end) they delight in falsehood; with his mouth, (i. e. with their mouths)
they will bless, and in their inside (inwardly, or with their heart) they will
curse. Selah. The sudden change of number in the middle of the verse,
and indeed the whole description, are like those in Ps. v. 10 (9).
6 (5). Only to God be still my soul, for from him (is) my hope. The
view just taken of his fellow-men drives. him back to God, and he exhorts
himself to cherish the same confidence which he had before expressed. Be
still, silent, trusting, and submissive. See above, on ver. 2 (1), and compare Ps. xxxvii. 7. The meaning of the last clause is, from him proceeds
whatever I desire or hope for.
7 (6). Only he is my rock (the foundation of my hope) and my salvation
(i. e. its source and author)—my high place (refuge or asylum) —I shall not
be moved (or shaken). This more absolute expression, as compared with
ver. 3 (2), seems to indicate a stronger faith, derived from the previous
comparison of God and man as objects of trust and affection.
8 (7). Upon God (i. e. dependent, founded on him) is my salvation, and
my honour (both official and personal); the rock of my strength (my strong
rock, or the basis upon which my own strength rests); my hiding-place (my
refuge) is in God. It is in his presence, favour, and protection, that I hide myself from
all my enemies and all my dangers. See above, on Ps. vii. 11 (10), lxi: 4 (3).
9 (8). Trust in him at every time, O people, pour out before him your
heart; God (is) a refuge for us. Selah. The faith which he cherishes
himself he recommends to others also. At every time, not merely in prosperity, but even in the sorest trials and the worst extremities. People, not
merely men or persons, but people, of God, his chosen people. To pour
out the heart is a natural and lively figure for a full disclosure of the thoughts
and feelings. See above, on Ps. xlii. 5 (4), and below, on Ps. cxlii. 3 (2),
and compare 1 Sam. i. 15, Lam. ii. 19. The last clause gives the reason
of the exhortation, and indicates its earnestness by a solemn pause.
10 (9). Only vanity (are) sons of Adam, a falsehood sons of man; in the
scales (they are sure) to go up; they are of vanity (or less than vanity)
together. As to the supposed antithesis between men of high and low degree
in the first clause, see above, on Ps. iv. 3 (2), xlix. 3 (2). Only vanity,
see above, on Ps. xxxix. 6 (5). A falsehood, something that deceives expectation, a false confidence. See above, on Ps. iv. 3 (2). Of vanity,
composed of it, containing nothing else; or giving the particle its frequent
comparative sense, (less) than vanity, or (vainer) than vanity (itself). The
270
PSALM LXII.
[VER. 10-12.
same doubt exists as to the meaning of the similar expressions in Isa. xl. 17, xli. 24.
11 (10). Trust not in oppression, and in robbery become not vain ; (on).
wealth, when it grows, set not (your) heart. The first two nouns are used.
together in Lev. v. 23 (vi. 4) to signify that which is acquired by violence.
They are not therefore to be taken as distinct grounds of confidence, but as
different parts or different descriptions of the same. Become not vain, by
being assimilated to the vain, unsatisfying objects of your love and hope.
See 2 Kings xvii. 15, and compare Jer. ii. 5, Job xxvii. 12. The word.
translated wealth means strictly strength or power, but is applied to pecuniary as well as military force. See above, on Ps. xlix. 7 (6). Grows,
literally sprouts, or springs up of its own accord, perhaps with an antithetical
allusion to wealth gained by violence. Even when lawfully or accidentally
acquired, set not your heart upon it. This phrase in Hebrew sometimesmeans nothing more than to apply the mind or give attention, and so some
understand it here, "when wealth increases, take no notice, think not of it;"
but the stronger sense of fixing the affections on it, loving it, and trusting
it, is better in itself and better suited to the context.
12, 13 (11, 12). One (thing) hath God spoken, these two (things) have I
heard, that strength (belongeth) unto God, and (that) unto thee, O Lord,
(belongeth) mercy, (but) that thou wilt render to a man according to his deed
(or doing). There are really three attributes of God here mentioned, his
power, his mercy, and his justice; but as the last is only introduced to
qualify the second, by a kind of after-thought, they may still be reckoned as
but two. The construction given in the English and many other versions
separates the sentences, and makes the first refer to a repeated utterance or
revelation of the one truth there propounded, namely, that power belongeth
unto God. Instead of one thing, two things, we must then read once and
twice. But this, though favoured by the imitation of the verse before us
in Job xxxiii. 14, xl. 5, is not the most obvious construction here. It is
evident that one and two, when absolutely or elliptically used, may sometimes mean one time, (i. e. once) and two times, (i. e. twice); but it does not
follow that the same words, in a different connection, may not :mean one
word or thing, two words or things. It is also a familiar practice of the
sacred writers to borrow one another's words, or to repeat their own, with
some slight change of sense or application. The prononn (Uz) in ver. 12
(11) may be either a demonstrative or relative, and on the latter supposition we may read, (there are) two (things) which I have heard; but the other
is a simpler and more obvious construction. The apostrophe or sudden
change of person in ver. 13 (12) is a figure of speech common in the psalms
of David, and indicates a growing warmth of feeling, so that He who had
just been calmly spoken of as absent, is abruptly addressed as if seen to be
personally present.
PSALM LXIII.
1. A Psalm by David, in his being (when he was) in the wilderness of
Judah. This is the wilderness along the eastern frontier of the tribe of
Judah. It is frequently mentioned in the history of Absalom's rebellion
and of David's flight before him. See 2 Sam. xv. 23., 28, xvi. 2, 14,
xvii. 16. In that history we also meet with several of the very same expressions that are here used, which, together with the strong internal
VER. 1-4.]
PSALM LXIII.
271
similarity of this psalm to some others having reference to Absalom's
rebellion, such as Ps. iii., iv., xlii., lxi., suffice to shew that it belongs to
the same period, and not to that of Saul's persecution, which is indeed
forbidden by the mention of the king in ver. 12 (11). The psalm consists
of two parts, each exhibiting essentially the same succession of ideas, but
with the variation usual in all such cases. Both begin with the expression
of intense desire for God's presence and communion with him, and end with
a confident anticipation of his mercy; but in the first, ver. 2-9 (1-8), this
is supposed to be displayed in the deliverance of the Psalmist from his
sufferings; in the second, ver. 7-12 (6-11), it is viewed as securing the
destruction of his enemies.
2 (1). O God, my God (art) thou; I will seek thee early; for thee thirsts
my soul; for thee longs my flesh, in a dry land, weary without water. The
second divine name is the one denoting power, and might be translated
here, my Mighty (One). The very use of it involves a direct appeal to
God's omnipotence. The verb in the first clause is connected in its etymology with a noun meaning the dawn of day, which occurs above, Ps.
lvii. 9 (8). The modern lexicographers exclude the sense of early, and
suppose the verb to mean nothing more than seek in English, or at most to
seek with eagerness. But that the notion of time is really included seems
to follow from the antithesis in Isa. xxvi. 9. The act of seeking a thing
early implies impatience or importunate desire. The soul and the flesh
together mean the whole man. See above, on Ps. xvi. 9. There is evident allusion to the actual privations experienced by David in the wilderness of Judah. See the places cited in the note upon ver. 1, to which add
2 Sam. xvii. 2. The Hebrew word for weary is there applied to David
himself, which requires or allows the same application in the case before
us, especially as the form of the adjective is masculine, and land is feminine. The strict grammatical concord is perhaps with flesh, which is a
masculine in Hebrew.
3 (2). To see thy power and thy glory, so (as) I have beheld thee in the
sanctuary. The first clause states the object of the strong desire expressed
in the preceding verse. To make this connection clear, the clauses are
transposed in the common version, which is here retained, as being, on the
whole, the best among the many which have been proposed. One of the
latest makes the verse an acknowledgment that he had actually found a
sanctuary in the desert, because it is always to be found where God is
pleased to manifest his presence. But however sound and scriptural this sentiment
may be, it can hardly be extracted from the verse before us without violence.
4 (3). Because thy favour is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. A
simpler construction, and perhaps more agreeable to Hebrew usage, is that
which makes the first clause give a reason for the strong desire expressed
in the foregoing verses, for thy favour is better than life, and the last clause
merely add a pledge of thankful acknowledgment, my lips shall praise thee.
Better than life, not merely than the life I now live, which was scarcely
entitled to be so considered, but better than any life I could live, destitute
of God's favour, which is therefore more than a sufficient substitute or
compensation.
5 (4). So will I bless thee in my life, in thy name will I raise my hands.
So, that is, according to the gift bestowed. Bless, i. e. praise and thank
thee. See above, on Ps. xvi. 7, xxxiv. 2 (1). In my life may either mean
as long as I live, which is the obvious and usual interpretation, or when
272
PSALM LXIII.
[VER. 5-10.
restored to life, from this state of living death, which is the sense preferred
by sonic of the best interpreters, on account of the supposed allusion to
better than life in the preceding verse; but it is far from being the most
natural construction. In thy name, invoking thee as the object being my worship, and particularly of my thankful praise. Lift up my hands in prayer,
and more specifically here, in thanksgiving. See above, on Ps. xxviii. 3 (2).
6 (5). As (with) marrow and fatness shall my soul be satisfied, and (with)
lips of rejoicing shall my mouth praise (thee). He continues the expression
of his joyful confidence and hope. Marrow and fatness are used to represent two Hebrew words, both meaning animal fat, here put for rich food,
and that for abundant supplies of every kind. Lips of rejoicings may
denote either joyful lips, or lips by which rejoicings are uttered. The unconditional engagement to praise God implies, as usual, a firm belief that
he will have occasion so to do. See above, on Ps. v. 8 (7).
7 (6). When I remember thee upon my bed, in the watches I will meditate
upon thee. The first word in Hebrew is the one commonly translated if;
but the condition indicated by it is sometimes specifically that of time.
There seems to be reference in this Verse to the old division of the night,
for municipal and military purposes, into three watches, the first (Lam.
ii. 19), the middle (Judges vii. 19), and the morning watch (Exod. xiv. 24,
1 Sam. xi. 11). See below, on Ps. 4. I will meditate of thee, or more
literally in thee, implying an entire absorption of his powers and affections
in the object. See above, on Ps. i. 2.
8 (7). For thou hast been a help to me, and in the shadow of thy wings
will I rejoice. The protection which he has experienced already he is sure
of still enjoying in the time to come. The translation of the first verb as a
present (thou art my help) not only weakens the antithesis but violates a
constant usage. See above, on Ps lix. 17 (16), lxi. 4 (3). The image presented in the
last clause is the same as that in Ps. xvii. 8, xxxvi. 8 (7), lvii. 2 (1), lxi. 5 (4).
9 (8). My soul cleaves after thee, thy right hand holds me. This is a
strong metaphorical description of the mutual relation between God and the
believer; a relation of trustful dependence on the one hand, and of constant favour and protection on the other. Cleaves after is a frequent phrase
for follows cleaving to thee. The right hand is the constant symbol of
strength. See above, on Ps. xviii. 36 (35), xliv. 4 (3), lx. 6 (5).
10 (9). And they to (their) ruin are seeking my soul; they shall go into
the depths of the earth. The phrase to ruin has precisely the same sense
as in Ps. xxxv. 8, namely, to their own destruction. Are seeking, will
seek; the idea suggested by the future is, that if they still persist in seeking it, they will do so to their own destruction. Some obtain the same
sense by a different construction, they (shall come) to ruin (who) are seeking
my soul; but this supposes two ellipses, which are not to be assumed without necessity. Still less satisfactory is the construction which regards the
whole verse as a single proposition: they (who) seek my soul to ruin (or
destroy it) shall go, &c. To seek the soul implies a purpose of destruction,
without any qualifying adjunct, even in prose. See 2 Sam. xvi. 11. The
depths of the earth, literally its lower or lowest parts, which may simply
mean the grave (as we say under ground), or contain an allusion to the
fate of Korah and his company (Num. xvi. 31-34). See above, on Ps. Iv. 16 (15).
11 (10). They shall be abandoned to the power of the sword, the prey of
jackals shall they be. The literal translation of the first clause is, they shall
VER. 1, 2.]
PSALM LXIV.
273
pour him out upon the hands of the sword, where the use of the plural verb
in an indefinite or passive sense, and the sudden alternation of the singular
and plural form in speaking of the enemy, together with the bold and
idiomatic figures of a sword with hands and men poured on them, present,
such a concurrence of apparent solecisms as can be made intelligible only
by a paraphrase. The word translated prey means properly a share or portion; it occurs above, Ps. xi. 6, xvi. 5. The other noun in this clause is
the common Hebrew word for foxes, but is used with so much latitude as
to include the jackal, which sense must be here preferred, as the fox does
not prey upon dead men, unless the clause be understood to mean nothing
more than that they shall be left lying in the desert, where these creatures
have their home, which is a good sense, but much weaker than the one just
put upon the words.
12 (11). And the king shall rejoice in God; (in him) shall every one boast
(or glory) that swears by him, because the mouth of those speaking falsehood
shall be shut (or stopped). Instead of the personal pronoun he inserts his
official title, the king, i. e. I as king. Rejoice in God, i. e. in union with
him and in the experience of his favour. Boast or praise himself, i. e. felicitate himself on the possession of these glorious distinctions and advantages.
Swearing by him, i. e. as some suppose, by the king here mentioned, according to the old Egyptian custom (Gen. xlii. 15, 16), of which we find some
traces even in Israel (1 Sam. xvii. 55, xxv. 26, 2 Sam. xi. 11). If this were the
true grammatical construction we might perhaps explain the phrase to mean
swearing to him, i. e. swearing fealty or allegiance, doing homage to him as
a rightful sovereign. But there is, in fact, no sufficient reason for departing from the obvious construction which refers the pronoun to the nearest
antecedent, God. The last clause assigns the immediate occasion of the
joy and triumph here predicted, namely, the defeat of false and treacherous
insurgents. See above, on Ps. lxii. 5 (4), and compare 2 Sam. xviii. 7, 8.
PSALM LXIV.
1. To the Chief Musician, A Psalm by David. The correctness of
this title is abundantly established by the marked internal similarity between this and other psalms of David. Its very structure is Davidic,
exhibiting the two familiar elements of a prayer for deliverance from wicked
enemies, ver. 2-6 (1-5), and a confident anticipation of a favourable answer,
ver. 7-11 (6-40).
2 (1). Hear, O God, my voice in my complaint; from fear of the enemy
thou wilt preserve my life. Here, as in Ps. li-v. 3 (1), the expression of confidence insinuates itself into the prayer itself. Complaint, literally musing,
meditation, but with special reference to suffering and danger. See above, on
Ps. lv. 3 (2). Fear of the enemy, that which I have reason to fear from him.
3 (2). Thou wilt hide me from the secret of evil doers, from the tumult of
the workers of iniquity. By secret we are here to understand their confidential consultations and the devices there matured. See above, on Ps.
xxv. 14. The participle doing evil, used as a noun (evil doers) to describe
the whole class of wicked men, is a favourite expression of David's. See
above, Ps. xxii. 17 (16), xxvi. 5, xxvii. 2, xxxvii. 1, 9. As secrecy belongs,
to the formation of the plot, so does noise or tumult to its execution. The
same figures are combined, but in a very different application, Ps. lv. 15 (14).
274
PSALM LXIV.
[VER. 3-8.
4 (3). Who have sharpened, like the sword, their tongue, have strung their
arrow, bitter speech. The figure in the first clause is a favourite with David.
See above, on Ps. lii. 4 (2), lvii. 5 (4), lix. 8 (7). Strung their arrow,
literally trod (i. e. bent) it, which must either be explained as an ellipsis-bent their (bow to shoot their) arrow—or as a poetical transfer to the arrow
of what is strictly applicable only to the bow. See above, on Ps. lviii. 8
(7). The figure of an arrow is peculiarly appropriate to the poignant pain
produced by insult and calumny, which is also well expressed by the epithet
bitter. Compare Deut. xxxii. 24, 1 Sam. xv. 32.
5 (4). To shoot in secret places (at) the perfect; suddenly they will shoot
him, and will not fear. With the first clause compare Ps. x. 8, xi. 2. The
perfect, the sincere and upright servant of God, who is free from all fatal
and essential defect of character. See above, on Ps. xv. 2, xviii. 24 (23),
vii. 9 (8), xxv. 21, xxvi. 1, 11, xxxvii. 37, in the last of which places the
Hebrew adjective has the same form as in the case before us. And will not fear,
i. e. without being deterred by the fear of God or man. See above, on Ps. lv. 20 (19).
6 (5). They will strengthen for themselves an evil word; they will tell about
hiding snares; they have said, who will see to them? To strengthen is to
make strong, to construct so as to be strong. An evil word is an idiomatic
phrase for a malignant plot, so called because it is the fruit of mutual discourse and consultation. See above, on Ps. xli. 9 (8). Tell about, count
and recount their various devices, past and present. See above, on Ps. lix.
13 (12). The interrogation in the last clause is an indirect one; the equivalent direct form would be, who will see to us, i. e. regard us? Compare
Ps. x. 11, lix. 8 (7).
7 (6). They search out iniquities; (they say) We are ready—a consummate plan! and the inward thought and heart of (every) man (is) deep.
They rack their invention and ransack their memory for modes of doing
mischief. We are ready, literally finished, just as we might say in English,
we are done. The next phrase consists of a passive participle, derived from
the verb at the beginning of the sentence, and a cognate noun. The participle here corresponds to exquisite, recherché, something not to be had
without laborious search, and the noun describes the product of the search
itself. The last clause is added to enhance the danger, by representing the
device as springing, not from shallow, superficial, but profound contrivance.
Inward thought, literally inside, an equivalent to heart, often used by David.
See above, on Ps. v. 10 (9), xlix. 12 (11), lv. 16 (15), lxii. 5 (4).
8 (7). But God has shot them—with an arrow—suddenly—the wounds
are theirs. By an abrupt but beautiful transition he describes the tables as
completely turned upon the enemy. The antithesis is rendered very striking by the repetition of the verb, noun, and adverb used in ver. 4, 5 (3, 4).
Just as they are about to shoot an arrow suddenly at the righteous, God
shoots an arrow suddenly at them. The wounds which they intended to
inflict on others have become (UyhA) their own. When they thought to
strike others, they were struck themselves. The general idea is the same
as in Ps. vii. 12-17 (11-16), liii. 6 (5), lvii. 7 (6). The adversative particle at the beginning is substituted for the simple copulative of the Hebrew,
to make the transition or antithesis more obvious in English. See above,
on Ps. lii. 10 (8), lv. 14 (13).
9 (8). And he has cast them down; upon them (comes) their own tongue; all
shall flee gazing at them. Cast down, literally made to fall or stumble. See
the use of the same verb in historical prose, 2 Chron. xxv. 8, and compare
VER. 1, 2.]
PSALM LXV.
275
the original of 2 Chron. xxvii. 23. The construction is indefinite, as in
Ps. lxiii..11 (10), they have cast him down, i. e. he is cast down, meaning
the enemy as an ideal person, who, according to the usage of these
psalms, is immediately afterwards referred to in the plural number. Their
tongue, i. e. the consequences of their false, malignant speeches, and their
mischievous deliberations. The verb in the last clause is an intensive form
of the one used in Ps. xxxi. 12 (11), lv. 8 (7). Gazing at them, not simply
seeing them, but seeing with emotion, whether that of wonder, joy, or
terror. See above, on Ps. liv. 9 (7), lix. 11 (10). The clause seems to
contain an allusion to the flight of the people, when the earth opened to
devour Korah and his company, Num. xvi. 34.
10 (9). And all men fear, and pronounce (it) God's doing, and his work
they understand. The conversive futures spew the dependence of the sentence upon that which goes before it, and describe the action, not as actually past, but as directly consequent upon the great catastrophe described
in the preceding context. And declared the work of God, i. e. pronounced
it to be such. Compare Exod. viii. 19. His work they understand, i. e.
no longer foolishly ascribe it to mere chance or human agency.
11 (10). Glad shall the righteous be in Jehovah, and shall trust in him;
and (in him) shall boast (or glory) all the upright in heart. Having described the effect of the divine interposition on the wicked, and on men in
general, he now shews how it will affect the righteous. In Jehovah means,
as usual, in union with him and possession of him. The word translated
trust is that which seems originally to denote the act of seeking shelter
under an overshadowing object. See above, on Ps. lxiii. 8 (7). With the
last clause compare Ps. lviii. 11 (10), lxiii. 12 (11).
PSALM LXV.
1. To the Chief Musician. A Psalm. By David. A Song, i. e. a song
of praise. See above, on Ps. xlviii. 1, xlii. 9 (8). God is first praised in
general, as a God of mercy and benevolence to all men, ver. 2-9 (1-8), and
then in particular, as the giver of fruitful seasons and abundance, ver.
10-14 (9-13).
2 (1). To thee (belongeth) silence, praise, O God, in Zion, and to thee
shall be paid the vow. The two words, silence-praise, form a kind of compound term, like humility-righteousness in Ps. xlv. 5 (4), meaning, as some
suppose, silent praise, but this is hardly consistent with the fact that the
praise here offered is vocal. More probably it means such praise as is
accompanied by a cessation of all tumultuous and passionate excitement.
See above, on Ps. lxii. 2, 6 (1, 5). In Zion, as the appointed place of
prayer and praise under the old economy. The last clause implies that
fresh occasion was continually given for thankful vows and their fulfilment,
by the constant repetition of God's providential favours.
3 (2). Hearer of prayer, up to thee shall all flesh come. The first word
in Hebrew is a participle, hearing, thou who habitually hearest prayer.
This is mentioned as one of the divine characters or attributes. Up to thee,
even to thee, implying actual arrival, and therefore a stronger expression
than unto thee. All flesh sometimes means all animals; all living creatures.
(Gen. vi. 17, 19), but is here used in its narrower sense of all mankind
(Gen. vi. 3, 12). To thee they shall come, i. e. must come, for the supply
of their necessities, the forgiveness of their sins, and in short, for every
276
PSALM LXV.
[VER. 3-8.
good and perfect gift (James i. 17), both of a temporal and spiritual nature.
4 (3). Words of iniquities are too strong for me; (as for) our transgressions, thou wilt expiate them, or forgive them for the sake of an atonement.
Words of iniquities is by some regarded as a pleonastic paraphrase for iniquities themselves. More probably, however, the phrase means the charge
or accusation of iniquity. See above, on Ps. vii. 1, xli. 9 (8), and below,
on Ps. cv. 27. Too strong for me, more than I am able to account for or
endure. See above, on Ps. xl. 13 (12), and below, on Ps. cxxx. 3. The
last clause contains the encouragement suited to the alarming situation
mentioned in the first.
5 (4). Happy (he whom) thou wilt choose and bring (him) near, i. e.
admit him to thy presence and to intimate communion with thee, (so that)
he shall inhabit thy courts; we shall be sated, satisfied or filled, with, the
good, i. e. the pleasure, the enjoyment, of thy house, the holy (place) thy
temple, or thy holy temple, thy sanctuary, an expression used both of the
tabernacle and the temple properly so called. See above, on Ps. v. 8 (7).
The privilege described is not merely that of public worship at the place of
God's appointment, but of residence in his family and participation in the
privileges of his household. See above, on Ps. xv. 1, xxiii. 6. The change
from the third person singular to the first plural shows that the former was
only an individualization of the church or chosen people.
6 (5). Fearful things in righteousness thou wilt answer us, O God of our
salvation, the confidence of all the ends of the land and sea—(even) the
furthest. Thou wilt give us fearful answers to our prayers, i. e. such as
are suited to excite religious reverence and awe. The confidence, the object,
of their trust. Earth (or land) and sea are put together to describe the
whole world, and the ends of both for the remotest countries, which idea is
then expressed directly, by the word at the end of the sentence. The
superlative cannot be expressed in Hebrew, but is here suggested by the
context. The sense is not that all men actually feel this trust in God, but
that whether they feel it or not, they are really dependent upon him alone.
Compare Isa. xlii. 4.
7 (6). Fixing the mountains by his strength, girded with power. This
verse accounts for the dependence of all creatures upon God by a reference
to his almighty power, which is not described in general terms, but by one
of its effects or acts, the settling of the mountains, as the most solid and
immovable portions of the earth. He is then metaphorically represented
as girded or invested with power. See below, on ver. 13 (12).
8 (7). Stilling the roar of seas, the roar of their waves, the tumult of
nations. The sentence is continued from the foregoing verse. God not
only formed the material universe at first, but still controls it. There is
here a beautiful transition from the literal to the figurative use of the same
language. It is true, in the strict use, that God stills the raging of the
seas; but it is also true that he subdues the commotion of human societies
and states, of which the sea is a natural and common emblem. See above,
on Ps. xlvi. 3, 4 (2, 3). Hence he adds in express terms, the tumult of
nations.
9 (8). Then were afraid those inhabiting the ends (or most distant parts)
of thy signs; the outgoings of morning and evening thou wilt make to shout
(or sing). Then is not expressed in Hebrew, but employed in the translation to shew the dependence of the verb on that of the preceding sentence.
The sense is, that whenever God thus stills the tumult of the nations, even
VER. 9-13.]
PSALM LXV.
277
the remotest are affected by his signs, i. e. the sensible indications of his
presence and immediate agency. Outgoings is a local noun in Hebrew, and
denotes the places where the evening and the morning come forth or begin,
i. e. the points at which the sun sets and rises, the east and west, here put
for eastern and western lands, and these for their inhabitants. That the
fear mentioned in the first clause is not mere slavish dread, but an affection
perfectly compatible with joy, is clear from the remainder of the sentence.
10 (9). Thou hast visited the earth and drenched it; thou wilt much
enrich it; the river of God is full of water; thou wilt prepare their corn,
for thus thou dost prepare it, i. e. the earth, for this very purpose. God is
said to visit his creatures when he manifests his presence with them, whether
in the way of judgment or of mercy. See above, on Ps. viii. 5 (4).
Drenched, soaked, or made to overflow. The word translated much is. the
3 same as in Ps. lxii. 3 (2). The river of God, as opposed to earthly streams.
However these may fail, the divine resources are exhaustless. Their corn,
that required for men's subsistence. See above on Ps. iv. 8 (7). The
meaning of the last clause seems to be that he who provides rain to fertilize
the earth, may be expected to provide the fruit itself.
11 (10). Its furrows drench, its ridges beat down: with showers thou wilt
soften it; its vegetation thou wilt bless. The first verb means to water
abundantly, the second to lower or beat down, implying a great violence of
rain. The word translated showers, according to its etymology and usage,
denotes frequent and abundant rains. Soften, dissolve, or loosen it. The
Hebrew verb is a derivative of that in Ps. xlvi. 7 (6). Vegetation, germination, that which sprouts or springs up from the seed when sown. Some
make the verbs in the first clause infinitives, determined by the finite tenses
which precede and follow. But their form permits them to be taken as imperatives,
from which the transition to the future is entirely natural and in accordance with the
usage of David's psalms, whenever an expression of confident anticipation is to be
immediately subjoined to one of strong desire. See above, on Ps. liv. 3 (1).
12 (11). Thou hast crowned the year of thy goodness, and thy paths drop
fatness. The first clause may either mean, thou hast crowned the year with
thy goodness, or, as some prefer to construe it, thou hast crowned the year
of thy goodness, the year distinguished by thy goodness, with particular
instances and proofs of that goodness. The obvious meaning of the strong
but beautiful figure in the last clause is, that wherever he appears his
movements are attended by a rich and fertilizing influence. Fatness is as
usual a figure for rich food, and that for general abundance
13 (12). They drop—the pastures of the wilderness, and (with) joy the
hills are girt. The word translated pastures properly means dwellings, but
is specially applied to folds and pastures, as the places to which flocks
resort. See above, on Ps. xxiii. 1. The word translated wilderness,
according to its most probable etymology, originally signifies, not a barren
desert, but a tract of country neither tilled nor thickly peopled, though
perhaps luxuriant and abundant as a pasture ground. The general metaphor of clothing which occurs in the next verse, is here anticipated by the
specific one of a girdle, as that which surrounds the body and confines the
dress. See above, on Ps. xviii. 33 (32).
14 (13). The pastures are clothed with flocks, and the vales shall be robed
in grain; they shall shout (for joy), yea, they shall sing. Some translate
the first clause, the flocks are clothed with lambs, denying that the first noun
in Hebrew ever means pastures. But see above, on Ps. xxxvii. 20. The
278
PSALM LXVI.
[VER. 1-5.
image presented in the first translation is certainly more natural and beautiful. It also makes the parallelism more complete, the fields being covered
by the waving crops in the same sense that the meadows are covered by
the grazing flocks. In the last clause the pastures and valleys, by a beautiful personification, are described as breaking forth into shouts of joy and
songs of praise. See above, on Ps. 10 (8).
PSALM LXVI.
1. To the Chief Musician. A Song. A Psalm. Shout unto God, all
the earth! The second clause of the inscription represents it as a psalm of
praise. See above, on Ps. lxv. 1. This is confirmed by the contents and
structure of the psalm itself, in which we have, first, a general celebration
of God's wonderful dealings with his people in all ages, ver. 1-7; then a
similar acknowledgment of what he had done in a particular case, ver. 8-12;
and lastly, a pledge or promise of thanksgiving, ver. 13-20. The resemblance to the forty-sixth psalm has led some to suppose that this psalm
was occasioned by the same event, or composed in imitation of the other,
for the use of the church in similar emergencies. The verb shout is plural
in its form, which shews that earth has a collective sense.
2. Sing the honour of his name; give (him) honour, (give) him praise.
The honour or glory of his name is that due to his manifested excellence.
See above, on Ps. xxix. 2. Give, literally place or put, the verbs expressing
these ideas being often interchanged in Hebrew. The same phrase that
is here used occurs also in Josh. vii. 19, Isa. xlii. 12, and is clearly equivalent to give honour in Ps. ixix. 1, 2, lxviii. 35 (34), Jer. xiii. 16. The
form of the last clause is peculiar, give honour (as or to) his praise.
3. How fearful are thy doings! In the greatness of thy strength shall
thine enemies lie to thee. Here begin, as some interpreters suppose, the
words in which the required praise is to be rendered to Jehovah; an admissible, though not by any means a necessary supposition. The first
clause may likewise be translated, how fearful (art thou in) thy doings,
after the analogy of ver. 5 below, the ellipsis of the pronoun being similar
to that in Ps. lxviii. 36 (35). In the greatness of thy strength, i. e. because
of it, or rather in the knowledge and belief of it. See above, on Ps. v. 8 (7).
Lie to thee, make false professions of allegiance, yield a feigned obedience,
through the influence of fear. See above, on Ps. xviii. 45 (44).
4. All the earth shall worship thee and sing to thee; they shall sing thy
name. Selah. Here again the verbs are plural, shewing that all the earth
is to be taken in a collective sense, as meaning all lands, or all the dwellers
upon earth. See above, on ver. 1. Worship thee, bow or prostrate themselves before thee, as an act both of civil and religious homage. See
above, on Ps. v. 8 (7). They shall not only sing to thee, but sing thy
name, i. e. not only celebrate thy being but thy manifested nature, the
attributes revealed by thy previous works. This anticipation of universal
homage to Jehovah is in strict accordance with the whole spirit and design
of the Mosaic dispensation.
5. Go, see the works of God, fearful (in) action on the sons of man. The
verb go is often used in Hebrew, as a formula of invitation or of challenge,
where in English we say come. See below, ver. 16, and compare Isa.
ii. 3, 5. In this case, however, go may be intended to express something
more than would have been expressed by come. The meaning may be, if
VER. 6-10.]
PSALM LXVI.
279
you do not believe these general declarations of God's power and dominion,
go and see for yourselves the proofs already given in the history of mankind, and more especially in that of Israel: go to Egypt, to the Red Sea,
to the Wilderness, to Jordan, and in the wonders there performed and still
repeated in the experience of the church, see the evidence that God is
indeed possessed of a tremendous power to control and influence mankind.
With the first clause compare Ps. xlvi. 9 (8), the only other place where
the word tvlfpm occurs.
6. He turned the sea into the dry (land ; through the river they shall pass
on foot; there will we rejoice in him. There is an obvious allusion to the
crossing of the Red Sea and the Jordan, not as mere historical events, but
as types or samples of God's extraordinary interpositions on behalf of
Israel, such as might be realized again in their experience. Hence the promiscuous use of preterite and future forms, as if to say, the God of Israel
will again turn the Red Sea into dry land for the passage of his people; if
need be, they shall again cross the Jordan dry shod; there, on the scene
of these miraculous events, shall we again rejoice in him. The combination of sea and river seems to show that by the latter we must understand
Jordan, and not, as some interpreters suppose, the Euphrates, which is
commonly so called. But see Isa. xi. 15, 16, Zech. x. 11.
7. Ruling by his might for ever; his eyes over (or among) the nations
watch; let not the rebels exalt themselves. Selah. The participle in the
first clause is expressive of habitual action, "he iconstantly, habitually
rules." See above, Ps. xxii. 29 (28). By his might, with which he
was before described as girded. See above, Ps. lxv. 7 (6). The noun
eternity is used adverbially to mean for ever. The divine inspection here
described implies that man can no more evade God's power than resist it.
The last clause may be either a prayer to God or an admonition to his
enemies. Exalt themselves: the Keri or marginal reading is, be high for
them (or for themselves); the Kethib or textual reading, lift (or raise) for themselves,
in which case horn may be supplied from Ps. lxxv. 5, 6 (4, 5), or head from Ps. cx. 7.
The rebels, i. e. against God, his stubborn and incorrigible enemies.
8. Bless, O ye nations, our God, cause to be heard the voice of his praise!
To the general description of God's gracious dispensations towards his
people there seems now to be added the commemoration of a particular
event of this kind; not one of merely local interest, however, but of such
importance, that the nations are invited to unite in praising God for it.
See above, on Ps. xviii. 50 (49), xxii. 28 (27).
9. The (one) putting, who puts, our soul in life, and has not given (up)
to removal our foot, has not allowed it to move or slip. The unusual expression in the first clause seems to mean restoration to life, a figure for relief
from great distress, which is not unfrequently described as death. See
above, on Ps. xxx. 4 (3), xlix. 16 (15). To set in life is not unlike the
phrase to set in safety, Ps. xii. 6 (5). The form of expression in the last
clause is analogous to that in Ps. lv. 23 (22) above, and identical with that
in Ps. cxxi. 3 below. Given up to removal, suffered to be moved from its
firm position or its place of safety.
10. For thou hast tried us, O God, thou hast purged (or assayed) us like
the purging of silver, as silver is purged, with particular reference, as some
suppose, to the long-continued and repeated process of refinement necessary in the case of silver. See above, on Ps. xii. 7 (6), xxvi. 2, and compare
Isa. i. 25, xlviii. 10, Zech. xiii. 9, 1 Pet. i. 7. The general idea here is
280
PSALM LXVI.
[VER. 11-14.
that of affliction, as a means both of trial and purgation, and is carried out
in the following verses.
11. Thou hast caused us to come into the net; thou hast put pressure on
our loins. The first clause is descriptive of complicated difficulties and embarrassments, the second of suffering and weakness. The word translated
net occurs above in the very different sense of a tower or fortress, Ps.
xviii. 3 (2). But even when so used, it strictly means a hunting tower, i. e.
a post of observation and of safety used by hunters, and from the same root
(dUc, to hunt) may be deduced the sense of net or snare, as a customary
implement of hunting, in which sense it is certainly employed by Ezekiel
(xii. 13). The word translated pressure occurs only here, but its essential
meaning is clear from its etymological affinities. Compare the cognate
form in Ps. lv. 4 (3). Some suppose the idea to be that of a superincumbent pressure, load, or burden, corresponding to the verb as used in Amos
ii. 13. Others make pressure mean contraction, stricture, and by necessary
implication, pain or anguish. The loins are mentioned as the seat of
strength (Deut. xxxiii. 11), an injury to which implies both pain and weakness. See below, on Ps. lxix. 24 (23).
12. Thou hast caused (or suffered) men to ride at our head, we came into
the fire and into the waters, and (now) thou hast caused us to come forth to
abundance, overflow, i. e. of enjoyment. Man, frail or mortal man, whose
tyranny is therefore the more insupportable. See above, on Ps. viii. 5 (4).
This first clause is ambiguous, in Hebrew as in English. To ride at our
head, though an exact translation, suggests only the idea of command or
guidance, whereas some kind of suffering is required by the context. The
common version, to ride over our heads, presents the image of horsemen
trampling on their conquered enemies. Some suppose the idea to be that
of riding on us, as a man controls and guides the horse that carries him.
The head must then be mentioned only as the noblest part, without implying that the rider actually sits upon it. But this very circumstance makes
the interpretation an unnatural and forced one. Fire and water, as the two
great destroying elements, are common figures for distress and danger. Compare Isa.
xxiii. 2. The last Hebrew word in the verse occurs only here and in Ps. xxiii. 5.
13. I will come (to) thy house with burnt-offerings; I will pay to thee my
vows, i. e. the offerings thus promised. His acknowledgments shall not be
merely verbal or mental, but ceremonial, i. e. expressed in the symbolical
form required by the dispensation under which he lived. The reference is
neither to internal feelings nor to outward rites exclusively, but to both
together. See above, on Ps. xl. 7 (6), 1. 8, li. 18 (16). With the last clause, compare
Ps. lxv. 2 (1). The sudden change of number, from the plural to the singular, shows
that what follows is the words of an ideal speaker, representing the same persons who
had spoken in the foregoing context, if not identical with their.
14. Which my lips uttered and my mouth spake in my distress. The first
verb is a very strong and expressive one, in this connection not unlike our
familiar phrases, bolted, blurted out, implying that he spoke from some
irresistible impulse, and thus suggesting what is afterwards explicitly affirmed,
that the vows in question were occasioned by extreme distress. The Hebrew
verb originally means to open or distend the lips, whether as a gesture of
mockery (Lam. ii. 16), or menace (Ps. xxii. 14), or for the purpose of
articulate speech (Job xxxv. 16). That its absolute use, in special reference to vows spontaneously and hastily uttered, was familiar to the ancients,
VER. 15-20.]
PSALM LXVI.
281
may be seen from Judges xi. 35, 36. In my distress; the original expression is, in the distress to me. See above, on Ps. xviii. 7 (6).
15. Burnt-offerings of fatlings will I offer to thee, with incense of rams;
I will make (an oblation of) cattle with he-goats. Selah. The word translated fatlings is especially applied to lambs, Isa. v. 17. The verb is the
first clause in the one from which the noun rendered burnt-offering is derived,
and strictly means I will cause to ascend, i. e. upon the altar, or in vapour
from it. Incense may here be taken in its etymological sense of something
burnt sacrificially, although in usage limited to aromatic fumigations, which
is also the case with the Hebrew word in every place but this, where it
seems to mean the sacrificial fat that was burned upon the altar. The
verb to make is absolutely used, as a technical term of the Mosaic Law, to
denote the act of sacrifice. See Exod. xxix. 36, Lev. ix. 7, and compare
Judges vi. 19, 1 Kings xviii. 23, 26. The different species of victims are
enumerated here, to convey the idea of a regular and perfect sacrifice, implying more than ordinary thankfulness.
16. Go (or in our idiom, come), hear, all ye fearers of (ye that fear) God,
and I will tell you what he hath done to (or for) my soul. The fearers of
Jehovah is a common description of believers or the people of God. See
Ps. lx. 6 (4), lxi. 6 (5). The invitation is like that in Ps. xxii. 24 (23).
Tell, in the primary sense of counting or numbering, and the secondary one
of recounting or relating. To my soul, i. e. to me, whose life or soul was
threatened. To me as the object of the act alluded to, or for me, as the
person to be benefited. This address prepares the way for the ensuing
declaration, founded on his own experience, that it is only by sincere submission and devotion to God that his protection is to be secured.
17. To him (with) my mouth I called, and high pruise (exaltation) was
under my tongue. By a slight change in the pointing, or by supposing an
irregularity of punctuation, the last clause may be rendered, he was extolled
under my tongue, i. e. by means of it as an instrument of praise. But as
a corresponding plural form occurs below, Ps. cxlix. 6, the Hebrew word.
(MmaOr) is probably a noun, meaning lofty praise, or exaltation by means
of praise. Under my tongue may be simply equivalent to on or with my
tongue, or it may be intended to suggest the additional idea of a store or
deposit of such praises still in reserve, to be employed hereafter, which some
suppose to be the meaning of the phrase in Ps. x. 7.
18. Iniquity if I have seen in my heart, the Lord will not hear. If I had.
any wicked end in view, God would not hear my prayer. The same idea
is expressed in Prov. xv. 29, Isa. i. 15, lix. 2, John ix. 31, 1 John iii. 22.
It is here stated as the ground on which he means to argue his own innocence of any such corrupt design, and actually does so in the next verse.
19. (But) verily God hath heard; he hath attended to the voice of my
prayer. The Hebrew particle at the beginning is strictly not adversative
but affirmative. See above, on Ps. xxxi. 23 (22). It is equivalent in force
to our expressions, whereas, really, in fact, &c. The doubt subjected in the
foregoing verse had been removed in his case by the application of the test
there mentioned. God had already heard his prayer and thereby borne
20. Blessed (be) God who hath not put away my prayer (from him) and
his mercy from me. Here as elsewhere, when applied to God, blessed can
only mean praised or entitled to be praised. The double application of the
verb in the last clause cannot well be imitated in translation. The same
witness that he was not guilty of the duplicity in question.
282
PSALM LXVII.
[VER. 1-5.
word in Hebrew may be used to express the act of rejecting a petition, and
that of withdrawing or withholding favour.
PSALM LXVII.
1. To the Chief Musician. With (or on) stringed instruments. A Psalm.
a Song, i. e. a psalm of praise. See above, on Ps. lxvi. 1. For the meaning of the second clause of this inscription, see above, on Ps. Iv. 1, and.
compare Ps. 1. The psalm before us, like the sixty-fifth, seems to
have special reference to the manifestation of God's goodness in the gift of
fruitful seasons and abundant harvests. See below, on ver. 7 (6), and
above, on Ps. lxv. 1. But from this the Psalmist, or the church, of which
he is the spokesman, takes occasion to anticipate the extension of God's
covenanted gifts, both temporal and spiritual, to all the nations of the earth.
This expectation is indeed the burden of the psalm, its immediate occasion
being only mentioned incidentally near the close, yet not so obscurely as to
make it doubtful. Any formal division of this short and simple composition can only tend to mar its beauty.
2 (1). God be merciful unto us and bless us, and cause his face to shine
upon us! The form of expression is evidently borrowed from the sacerdotal benediction, Num. vi. 24, 25, but with a substitution of the first
person plural for the second singular, so as to convert the authoritative
blessing upon others into an expression of desire for themselves. The
optative meaning of the sentence is determined by the form of the second
verb in Hebrew. Upon us, literally with us, a form of speech probably
intended to suggest the idea of the divine presence and communion. As to
the figure in the last clause, see above, on Ps. iv. 7 (6), xxxi. 17 (16).
3 (2). That thy way may be known in the earth, in all nations thy salvation. The original construction of the first clause is, to know in the earth
thy way; but the sense can only be made clear in English by a passive
form. Thy way, i. e. thy mode of dealing with thy people, referring more
particularly here to providential favours, the knowledge of which he hopes
to see extended to all nations, as a means to the promotion of still higher
ends. The pleonastic phrase, saving health, retained in the authorised version
from an older one, has nothing corresponding to it in the Hebrew but the
single word which always means salvation, and is commonly so rendered.
4 (3). The nations shall acknowledge thee, O God, the nations shall
acknowledge thee—all of them. The common version of the verb here twice
used (praise) is too wide. As it is commonly applied to the acknowledgment of benefits, a nearer equivalent is thank. See above, on Ps. lvii. 10 (9).
5 (4). Nations shall joy and triumph, because thou shalt judge peoples (in)
rectitude, and nations in the earth—thou shalt guide them. The divine
guidance implies protection and control. Compare Isa. lviii. 11. The
anticipation of universal happiness, as springing from the judicial acts of
the Messiah, is not unusual in prophecy. See below, on Ps. lxii. 12-14,
and compare Isa. 3. The word translated rectitude occurs above, Ps. xlv. 7 (6).
6 (5). The nations shall acknowledge thee, O God, the nations shall
acknowledge thee—all of them. This repetition spews the anticipation here
expressed to be the principal though not the primary subject of the psalm.
The position of the universal terms, at the close of this verse and ver. 4 (3),
is highly emphatic, and precludes, in the most explicit manner, all restriciton
VER. 1, 2.]
PSALM LXVIII.
283
7 (6). The earth (or land) has yielded her produce; God will bless us,
(even) our God. The translation of the first verb as a future is entirely
gratuitous, and therefore ungrammatical. Correctly rendered, it affords a
hint of the immediate occasion of the psalm itself. The mutual relation of
the clauses is that of a thankful acknowledgment for gifts received already
to a joyful and believing expectation of the same hereafter. God has
blessed us, and since he is our own God, he will bless us still.
8 (7). God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. The
God who has bestowed this harvest on us will continue to afford us tokens
of his covenant love and faithfulness; and the day is coming when the intimate relation which we now sustain to him will be extended to all nations.
Ends of the earth, even the remotest countries, but of course without
excluding those at hand. It is really tantamount to saying, all lands or the
whole earth. See above, on Ps. ii. 8.
PSALM LXVIII.
1. To the Chief Musician. By David. A Psalm of Praise. Literally,
a psalm, a song, but see above, on Ps. lxv. 1, lxvi. 1, lxvii. 1. This psalm,
like the eighteenth, which it very much resembles, is a triumphal song,
occasioned by some signal victory or success in war, perhaps that recorded
in 2 Samuel xii. 26-31, which closed the last important war of David's
reign. The psalm opens with a general praise of God as the deliverer of
the righteous and destroyer of the wicked, ver. 2-7 (1-6). This is then
illustrated and confirmed by a reference to certain periods in the history of
Israel, and first to the march through the wilderness, ver. 8-11 (7-10).
Then comes the period of the judges, ver. 12-15 (11-14). Then the erection of the monarchy on Zion, and its confirmation by the victory just
achieved, ver. 16-20 (15-19). This is then represented as a part of the
general plan of Jehovah's dealings with his people, ver. 21-24 (20-23).
The triumphal procession is described, ver. 25-28 (24-27). All this, however, is but a specimen or foretaste of a universal conquest yet to come,
ver. 29-32 (28-31). In anticipation of this revolution, the nations are
summoned to unite in the praises of Jehovah, ver. 33-36 (32-35). The
resemblence of this last part to the corresponding parts of the two preceding psalms may account for the position of the one before us.
2 (1.) God shall arise, his enemies shall scatter; those hating him shall
flee before him. This verse propounds, as the theme of the whole psalm, a
fact continually verified in history. There is also an obvious allusion to
the form of speech uttered by Moses at the removal of the ark, the symbol
of God's presence. See Num. x. 35. The wish there expressed is here
said to be realised. Hence the change of the imperative (hmAUq) into a
future (MUqvA), shewing that this verse has not an optative meaning (let God
arise), but is declaratory of what certainly will be hereafter, as it has been
already, in the case which gave occasion to the psalm. The present time
is not excluded, but involved in the general proposition, that it must and
will be so. Shall scatter is a more exact translation of the Hebrew verb
than be scattered, although the idea is undoubtedly that of involuntary
violent dispersion. Before him, from his face, or from his presence. See
above, on Ps. ix 4 (3), lxi. 4 (3).
3 (2). As smoke is driven, thou wilt drive (them); as wax is melted before
284
PSALM LXIII.
[VER. 3-7.
fire, the wicked shall perish before God. The form of expression is the same
as in the preceding verse, from the face of fire, from the face (or presence) of
God. The verb in the first clause is the same with that in Ps. i. 4, where
the wind, implied here, is expressly mentioned, as the driving or propelling
agent. The comparison with wax is a common one in Scripture, and occurs
above, in Ps. xxii. 15 (14). With the last clause compare the conclusion
of the Song of Deborah (Judges v. 31), of which there are various imitations,
or at least reminiscences, in this psalm.
4 (3). And the righteous shall be glad; they shall triumph before God,
and shall joy with gladness. This is true not only of righteous individuals
but of righteous nations, and especially of Israel, as such considered,
although many of its members were unrighteous. But these are not considered as really belonging to the church or chosen people, but are classed
among the wicked enemies of God. Before God shall the righteous rejoice,
as the wicked flee before him.
5 (4). Sing unto God, celebrate his name, cast up (a highway) for the
(one) riding through the deserts, by his name Jah, and exult before him.
The second clause alludes to the opening of roads for kings and armies.
See above, on Ps. 1.23, and compare Isa. xl. 3, Mal. iii. 1. The common
version of the verb (extol) conveys an idea wholly foreign from the usage of
the Hebrew word. Riding, i. e. journeying, or giving it a military application, marching. The common version of the next noun (heavens) is
entirely unauthorised by usage. The Hebrew word is one still applied by
the Arabs to the region over which the Israelites wandered forty years.
The idea here suggested is more fully carried out in ver. 8-10 (7-9). By
his name Jah, i. e. in the character denoted by this name, which is an
abbreviation of Jehovah, peculiar to the song of Moses (Exod. xv. 2) and the
later imitations of it. See my notes on Isa. xii. 2, xxxviii. 11. The
people are summoned to prepare for the reception of this glorious visitor.
6 (5). Father of orphans and judge of widows (is) God in his abode of
holiness. One of the most glorious divine characters is that of a protector
of the innocent and helpless. Judge, vindicator, patron, one who does
them justice. His abode of holiness cannot in this connection denote
heaven, but must be referred to his peculiar residence among his chosen people. It
was there that, both by the provisions of this law and the dispensations of his
providence, he asserted his right to the exalted character here claimed for him.
7 (6). God makes the lonely dwell in houses, makes the captives come forth
into enjoyments; only rebels (still) inhabit a dry land (or desert). This,
though a general proposition, seems to have a special reference to the
change in the condition of the Israelites, when brought out of the wilderness into possession of the promised land. The participles in the original
(sealing, bringing out) express habitual or customary acts. In houses,
literally in a house, or still more closely to a house, the idea of removal
being really implied. The word might also be translated homewards or at
home. The last word in this clause occurs nowhere else, and has been
variously explained to mean in chains, by force, and into pleasures or enjoyments, which last is now preferred by most interpreters.
8 (7). O God, in thy going out before thy people, in thy marching through
the wilderness. Selah. The sentence is completed in the next verse, being
here divided by a pause of solemn and admiring recollection. The general
description of the foregoing verses is now confirmed and illustrated by
a reference to the exodus from Egypt, and the journey through the wilder-
VER. 8-12.]
PSALM LXVIII.
285
ness. Before thy people, i